The phrase "a productive means" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing methods or ways to achieve a positive outcome or result in a particular context.
Example: "Using collaborative tools can be a productive means of enhancing team communication and efficiency."
Alternatives: "an effective method" or "a beneficial approach".
"Then on the other side, there doesn't feel like there's a productive means of interacting with the political system.
It is a testament to Darwin's insight that artificial selection continues to provide a productive means of both researching and teaching the basic principles of evolution by natural selection.
The real change, though, is that most activists today no longer view violence as a productive means of protest.
Additionally, advocating to completely abolish guardianship rules is not a productive means to deal with abuses in the system.
Yet some data-obsessed couples are embracing it as a productive means of surveillance in their relationship, and have taken to hooking spouses up to sensors, weighing wives with WiFi-enabled scales and even recording lovers' tiffs with iPhones.
In my view, the securitization of real estate (FORBES, Dec. 29, 1997) is still in its infancy and provides a highly productive means of diversifying equity portfolios.
However, what does seem to be apparent is that English has developed a very productive means of converting nouns into verbs and vice versa (see Fontaine, Lise 2017a).
Chromosomal engineering in mouse cells, in concert with gene replacement assays to prove the functional significance of a given genomic region or gene, represents a rapid and productive means for understanding the role of a given set of genes.
Since the use of fertilizers and pesticides in the agricultural fields have caused degradation of soil quality and fertility, thus the expansion of agricultural land with fertile soil is near impossible, hence researchers and scientists have sifted their attention for a safer and productive means of agricultural practices.
Yeast display of antibody fragments has proven to be an efficient and productive means for directed evolution of single-chain Fv (scFv) antibodies for increased affinity and thermal stability and, more recently, for the display and screening of a non-immune scFv and immune Fab libraries.
Most scholars contend that mobile pastoralism is an efficient and productive means of managing favourable ecological conditions in drylands (Davies 2008) and that pastoralism is not necessarily detrimental to wildlife conservation goals, but rather an important component of rangeland ecology in areas where wildlife reside (Fratkin 1997).
