Summary: Of all the coaching and productivity tools that exist out there, one that has had a lasting impact on me is Stephen Covey's Importance vs Urgency Matrix, first explained in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I like the model because it's simple, easy to remember and extremely powerful in managing your projects and time. One of the challenges with the model is that, while it does an excellent job of helping you classify which activities are important, it's not particularly strong at helping you figure out how to do those activities. Which is why I was delighted to come across Michael Bungay Stanier's book Do More Great Work; an approachable, easy to digest guidebook for not only identifying what great work means to you, but also for helping you commit to and follow through on that great work. Golden Egg Do More Great Work "When I say 'Great Work,' I'm not talking about a standard of delivery. I'm talking about a standard of impact and meaning." Do More Great Work, page 13 This may be a first - having the book title as our Golden Egg. Rather than taking this as a sign of laziness on my part, I choose to explain it as this: Our goal with "Golden Eggs" is to highlight one particularly actionable point from each business book. Bungay Stanier's entire book is actionable. Not only that, it has a singular, succinct point: we are happier - more fulfilled - when we are engaged in work that stretches us and makes a positive impact in the world. And yet. And yet, we spend so little of our time engaged in these types of activities. Instead, we spend most our time in the weeds, doing "bad work" or, most insidious of all, "good work". A few quick definitions: Bad Work: This is work that is pointless. It creates no value and it sucks our souls. "Bureaucracy, interminable meetings, outdated processes that waste everyone's time, and other ways of doing things that squelch you rather than help you grow." (pg 4) Good Work: This is the stuff you're paid to do; paid to deliver. It's thing things that need to get done, and you're fairly happy to do. It's efficiency focused and (most likely) takes up the vast majority of your day. The cost of doing bad work is, hopefully, fairly obvious. The challenge is in understanding the threat that good work poses. It's "productive", it's typically something you're good at, and you're never going to get into trouble for doing good work well. It's safe. And this is a trap. Doing good work never moves anything forward. It doesn't energize us, it doesn't challenge us, it doesn't allow us to make a dent in the world. It's important, and will always have a place in our professional lives, but - and here's the ultimate point - doing good work with excellence is not the same as going great work. For the sake of our sense of self, and for the good of our careers and our companies, we need to engage in more great work. So how do we do that? GEM # 1 Slow Down "Because we're in a hurry, we often just grab the first half-decent idea that comes along, regardless of whether it's the best idea we could have. I call this 'first-idea-itis'." Do More Great Work, page 112 One of the reasons we don't do as much great work as we could is due to the speed at which we're (apparently) trying to get through our lives. We take pride in check marks, and moving through To-Do lists. Great work is hardly ever an item on a To-Do list. Great work takes deliberate focus, energy and thought. It requires carving time out of our To-Do schedule and slowing down long enough to actually think beyond the immediate problem or solution. Do More Great Work comes complete with 15 "maps", or visual exercises you can work through to find, select and create action around your own great work projects. The exercises guide you through the thought process of what's important to you, why, and how acting on it could/would have a positive impact on your life and career.
