First Looks: Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters.
September 18th, 2011 Filed under: pr careers — Public Relations Author
You work hard. You put in the hours. Yet you feel like you are constantly treading water with “Good Work” that keeps you going but never quite moves you ahead. Or worse, you are mired in “Bad Work”endless meetings and energy-draining bureaucratic traps.
Do More Great Work gets to the heart of the problem: Even the best performers are spending less than a fraction of their time doing “Great Work”the kind of innovative work that pushes us forward, stretches our creativity, and truly satisfies us. Michael Bungay Stanier, Canadian Coach of the Year in 2006, is a business consultant whos found a way to move us away from bad work (and even good work), and toward more time spent doing great work.
When youre up to your eyeballs answering e-mail, returning phone calls, attending meetings and scrambling to get that project done, you can turn to this inspirational, motivating, and at times playful book for invaluable guidance. In fifteen exercises, Do More Great Work shows how you can finally do more of the work that engages and challenges you, that has a real impact, that plays to your strengthsand that matters.
The exercises are “maps”brilliantly simple visual tools that help you find, start and sustain Great Work, revealing how to:
- Find clues to your own Great Worktheyre all around you
- Locate the sweet spot between what you want to do and what your organization wants you to do
- Generate new ideas and possibilities quickly
- Best manage your overwhelming workload
- Double the likelihood that youll do what you want to do
Review:
The author, Michael Bungay Stanier, was the Canadian executive coach of the year in 2006 and is a business consultant. Core message of the book is that many of us do far too much good work (“treading water”) or bad work (energy draining activities) and not enough great work (offering true satisfaction). Stanier opens the book by defining Bad Work, Good Work and Great Work. And then rolls into the 15 short and snappy exercises supported by highly effective visual maps to help guide you through the process via brainstorming, reflection, analysis of actual observations.
1) Where are you now? (Map current mix of bad, good and great work. Assess)
2) What’s Great? (Recall peak moments. Assess)
3) What are you like at your best? (Recall emotions at peak moments. Map “I am this…not that”)
4) Who’s great? (Think of role models that are inspiring and assess why. Choose characteristic. Emulate & Visualize)
5) What’s Calling You? (Scan landscape for great opportunities. Analyze. What surprised you? Inspired you?)
6) What’s Broken? (Map aggravations that “erode the quality of our lives.” Assess. What can you change)
7) What’s Required? (Map all the work you do on daily or weekly basis into one of 4 quadrants: a) They Care/You Care (Sweet spot/Do more-convert from good to great work) (b) They Care/I don’t care. (Stop doing), (c) I Don’t Care/They Care (Must do – delegate or be more efficient-embrace adequacy.” (d) You Care/They Don’t Care (Do it Elsewhere; do it undercover; re-label it)
What’s the Best Choice? (Map your options. Rate/rank the options.
9) What’s Possible? (Map creative new ideas and explore what can be converted to great work)
10) What’s the Right Ending? (Explore different ways forward – What can be, what’s changed, new outcome)
11)How Courageous are You? (Map safe to impossible methods to do more great work)
12)What Will you do? (Map (a) what is easiest to do, (b) what would have the greatest impact, (c) what do you want to do, (d) what Will you do)
13)What Support Do You Need? (Map people who have influence, skills, or love you)
14)What’s the Next Step? (Map what you will do, by when, what’s the first step, what accountability do you need – then analyze)
15)Lost Your Great Work Mojo? (Revert back to steps 1-14 and assess)
And the book concludes with 4 great work truths:
Great Work Truth #1: Things only get interesting when you take full responsibility for the choices you make.
Great Work Truth #2: To do more Great Work, you must both narrow and broaden your gaze.
Great Work Truth #3: Decide what to say no to.
Great Work Truth #4: Stop Making everyone happy.
Great Work Truth #5: Ask for Help.
This is an exercise workbook (more than a book) where Stanier allows reader to work their way forward to a solution to finding their own Great Work. The book also includes relevant and thoughtful quotes (Camus, Edmund Hillary) and passages from contemporary coaches (Seth Godin, Dave Ulrich, Penelope Trunk).
