Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters.
February 27th, 2010
Busywork., great, Matters, More, Start, Stop, Work Posted in Psychiatry | 5 Comments 
Product Description
Here’s a business book that gets right to the problem that plagues so many organizations: Even the best performers are spending less than a fraction of their time doing “great work” or work that leads to “great work”—the kind of innovative work that pushes business forward, stretches creativity, and offers true satisfaction. The rest of the time (50 percent or more) employees are treading water with “good work”—the work that keeps the business going but will never move it ahead—and are mired in “bad work” (upwards of 25 percent of the time)—the endless meetings, the energy-draining bureaucratic processes. Michael Bungay Stanier, Canadian Coach of the Year in 2006, is a business consultant who’s found a way to move us away from bad work (and even good work), and toward more time spent doing great work.
This inspirational, motivating, at times playful book uses fifteen short, thought-provoking exercises that effectively force the reader to look at what his or her work really is, and find ways to change the mix. The exercises, called Maps because of the quick, visual way they lead the reader from A to B to Z, begin with defining great work—assess your personal bad-good-great ratio; tap into the power of role models; analyze those moments when work turned into a flow. There are maps that explore personal creativity and inspire brainstorming. And maps to help put ideas into motion, including how to structure time, how to elicit help from members of your team, even how to navigate an idea through the organization. And along the way, there are tips for clearing time to move away from bad work—including how to use the drama triangle of transactional analysis and stop being a “rescuer” who takes on other people’s problems, and how not to say “no,” but how to say “yes” more slowly, making sure you’re doing what’s most important.
Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I found the 1st Edition of this book to be very useful. It challenged me to look beyond the pull of everyday life and its demands to what is most important to me. It has given me the tools to make space in my life for these important things.
Rating: 4 / 5
February 27th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I bought Find Your Great Work a year or so ago and it has really helped me change the way I think about work. I’ve been doing Good Work for years and had been quite disallusioned by the whole thing. The exercises in Find Your Great Work helped me to identify the kind of work that really gets me excited — Great Work — and come up with some innovative ideas for doing More Great Work. Michael Bungay Stanier is a smart, insightful and downright delightful guy…his books, along with his wonderful Great Work Interviews (the podcasts are available on iTunes) will change the way you think about work and what kind of work you’re doing.
Rating: 5 / 5
February 27th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I bought this book (1st Edition) directly from the author’s website. I had read nice reviews about the book and the book surely held up to the expectations. It is part of the few “new thinking” books in my collection. Do not be deceived by the small size. This is a very to-the-point book to make you stop and think. It makes you re-map and re-wire your priorities in life. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5 / 5
February 27th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
This book provides innovative and insightful thinking into a fundamental question that most of us neglect in our busy lives: How exactly are we spending our time? Michael Bungay-Stanier has a wonderful way of approaching this question through a series of short, thought-provoking exercises and questions, all of which are designed to move us toward spending our limited time on what REALLY matters — and what you may think “matters” is unlikely what really matters to you when you’ve really thought about it. I guarantee that once you’ve worked through this refreshingly compact and pithy book, how you were planning to spend your day is likely to change dramatically. Highly, highly recommended.
Rating: 5 / 5
February 27th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
I found the concept and execution of this “napkin-sized” book to be just what I needed at the time I got it. Reminded me that we all need to focus on great work and not accept whatever is easily attainable. The tools have assisted me in my work with bringing groups to the realization of their potential for great work.
Rating: 5 / 5