Reworking Work: Unconventional Business Advice

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson of Basecamp have not only challenged the software application industry with their leading web-based project management tool Basecamp and other system, tools and frameworks but in their book Rework, they share their guiding and operating principles by which they started and operate this very successful business.

Much of the advice they provide is contrarian to what is commonly shared within the business community, which is what makes this book unique and makes one reflect – regardless of what one thinks about the specific examples provided – about ones’ own practices and whether any modifications and simplifications can be made to become more effective.

I have selected below some of the advice shared that most strongly resonated with me, from the various areas covered: takedowns, go, progress, productivity, competitors, evolution, promotion, hiring, and damage control.

Learning from success is more effective than from failure:

Failure is not a prerequisite for success. A Harvard Business School study found already-successful entrepreneurs are far more likely to succeed again (the success rate for their future companies is 34 percent). But entrepreneurs whose companies failed the first time had almost the same follow-on success rare as people starting a company for the first time: just 23 percent. People who failed before have the same amount of success as people who have never tried at all. Success is the experience that actually counts. That shouldn’t be a surprise: It’s exactly how nature works. Evolution doesn’t linger on past failures, it’s always building upon what worked. So should you.

On the importance of performing meaningful work:

To do great work, you need to feel that you’re making a difference. That you’re putting a meaningful dent in the universe. That you’re part of something important…If you’re going to do something, do something that matters. These little guys came out of nowhere and destroyed old models that had been around for decades. You can do the same in your industry.

On positioning, which applies to us both as individuals as well as organizations:

As you get going, keep in mind why you’re doing what you’re doing. Great businesses have a point of view, not just a product or service. You have to believe in something. You need to have a backbone. You need to know what you’re willing to fight for. And then you need to show the world. A strong stand is how you attract superfans. They point to you and defend you. And they spread the word further, wider, and more passionately than any advertising.

On the importance of thinking about profit from day one when starting up a business:

Anyone who takes a “we’ll figure out how to profit in the future” attitude to business is being ridiculous. That’s like building a rocket ship but starting off by saying, “Let’s pretend gravity doesn’t exist.” A business without a path to profit isn’t a business, it’s a hobby…Actual businesses don’t mask deep problems by saying, “It’s OK, we’re a startup.” Act like an actual business and you’ll have a much better shot at succeeding.

On how constraints can be an advantage:

“I don’t have enough time/money/people/experience.” Stop whining. Less is a good thing. Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you’ve got. There’s no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.

On the importance of making decisions:

Whenever you can, swap “Let’s think about it” for “Let’s decide on it.” Commit to making decisions. Don’t wait for the perfect solution. Decide and move forward. You want to get into the rhythm of making choices. When you get in that flow of making decision after decision, you build momentum and boost morale. Decisions are progress. Each one you make is a brick in your foundation. You can’t build on top of “We’ll decide later,” but you can build on top of “Done.”

On rallying around the core that does not change:

A lot of companies focus on the next big thing. They latch on to what’s hot and new. They follow the latest trends and technology. That’s a fool’s path. You start focusing on fashion instead of substance. You start paying attention to things that are constantly changing instead of things that last. The core of your business should be built around things that won’t change. Things that people are going to want today and ten years from now. Those are the things you should invest in.

On the importance of launching/shipping now:

Don’t mistake this approach for skimping on quality, either. You still want to make something great. This approach just recognizes that the best way to get there is through iterations. Stop imagining what’s going to work. Find out for real.

On the most effective way to get agreement:

If you need to explain something, try getting real with It. Instead of describing what something looks like, draw it. Instead of explaining what something sounds like, hum it. Do everything you can to remove layers of abstraction.

Questions to ask yourself before working on something:

Why are you doing this? What problem are you solving? Are you adding value? Is this actually useful? Are you adding value? Will this change behavior? Is there an easier way? What could you be doing instead?

Meetings can be a big time sink, but if you absolutely must have one, then make sure to follow these rules:

Set a timer. When it rings, meeting’s over. Period. Invite as few people as possible. Always have a clear agenda. Begin with a specific problem.

On not chasing perfection:

When good enough gets the job done, go for it. It’s way better than wasting resources or, even worse, doing nothing because you can’t afford the complex solution. And remember, you can usually turn good enough into great later.

Quitting working on a task is sometimes the right thing to do:

Keep in mind that the obvious solution might very well be quitting. People automatically associate quitting with failure, but sometimes that’s exactly what you should do. If you already spent too much time on something that wasn’t worth it, walk away. You can’t get that time back. The worst thing you can do now is waste even more time.

Break big decisions into many smaller ones:

Big decisions are hard to make and hard to change. And once you make one, the tendency is to continue believing you made the right decision, even if you didn’t. You top being objective…Instead, make choices that are small enough that they’re effectively temporary. W^en you make tiny decisions, you can’t make big mistakes. These small decisions mean you can afford to change. There’s no big penalty if you mess up. You just fix it. Making tiny decisions doesn’t mean you can’t make big plans or think big ideas. It just means you believe the best way to achieve those big things is one tiny decision at a time.

Put more of yourself into your products for differentiation:

Pour yourself into your product and everything around you product too: how you sell it, how you support it, how you explain it, and how you deliver it. Competitors can never copy the you in your product.

Don’t obsess too much about your competition:

It’s a pointless exercise anyway. The competitive landscape changes all the time. Your competitor tomorrow may be completely different from your competitor today. It’s out of your control. What’s the point of worrying about things you can’t control? Focus on yourself instead. What’s going on in here is way more important than what’s going on out there. When you spend time worrying about someone else, you can’t spend that time improving yourself Focus on competitors too much and you wind up diluting your own vision. Your chances of coming up with something fresh go way down when you keep feeding your brain other people’s ideas. You become reactionary instead of visionary. You wind up offering your competitor’s products with a different coat of paint.

Marketing is not a function reserved just for that department:

Do you have a marketing department? If not, good. If you do, don’t think these are the only people responsible for marketing. Accounting is a department. Marketing isn’t. Marketing is something everyone in your company is doing 24/7/365. Just as you cannot not communicate, you cannot not market.

While there is nothing groundbreaking about the advice given in this book, the thought-provoking-ness aspect that it brings out within the reader is very commendable and makes it a very worthwhile read (and a quick one as well). If you are interested to hear more from the authors and their thought philosophy, you can do so by reading/subscribing to their company’s blog Signal vs. Noise.

On The Power Of Full Engagement

I recently finished reading The Power of Full Engagement – Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal – by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.

Below are key excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:

1- “We live in a world that celebrates work and activity, ignores renewal and recovery, and fails to recognize that both are necessary for sustained high performance.”

2- “-Our most fundamental need as human beings is to spend and recover energy. We call this oscillation. -The opposite of oscillation is linearity: too much energy expenditure without recovery or too much recovery without sufficient energy expenditure. – Balancing stress and recovery is critical to high performance both individually and organizationally. -We must sustain healthy oscillatory rhythms at all four levels of what we term the “performance pyramid”: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. -We build emotional, mental and spiritual capacity in precisely the same way that we build physical capacity. We must systematically expose ourselves to stress beyond our normal limits, followed by adequate recovery. -Expanding capacity requires a willingness to endure short-term discomfort in the service of long-term reward.”

3- “-Physical energy is the fundamental source of fuel in life. -Physical energy is derived from the interaction between oxygen and glucose. -The two most important regulators of physical energy are breathing and eating. -Eating five to six low-calorie, highly nutritious meals a day ensures a steady resupply of glucose and essential nutrients. -Drinking sixty-four ounces of water daily is a key factor in the effective management of physical energy. -Most human beings require seven to eight hours of sleep per night to function optimally. -Going to bed early and waking up early help to optimize performance. -Interval training is more effective than steady-state exercise in building physical capacity and in teaching people how to recover more efficiently. -To sustain full engagement, we must take a recovery break every every 90 to 120 minutes. ”

4- “-In order to perform at our best, we must access pleasant and positive emotions: the experience of enjoyment, challenge, adventure and opportunity. -The key muscles fueling positive emotional energy are selfconfidence, self-control, interpersonal effectiveness and empathy. -Negative emotions serve survival but they are very costly and energy inefficient in the context of performance. -The ability to summon positive emotions during periods of intense stress lies at the heart of effective leadership. -Access to the emotional muscles  that serve performance depends on creating a balance between exercising them regularly and intermittently seeking recovery. -Any activity that is enjoyable, fulfilling and affirming serves as a source of emotional renewal and recovery. -Emotional muscles such as patience, empathy and confidence can be strengthened in the same way that we strengthen a bicep or a tricep: pushing past our current limits followed by recovery.”

5- “-Mental capacity is what we use to organize our lives and focus our attention. -The mental energy that best serves full engagement is realistic optimism—seeing the world as it is, but always working positively towards a desired outcome or solution. -The key supportive mental muscles include mental preparation, visualization, positive self-talk, effective time management and creativity. -Changing channels mentally permits different parts of the brain to be activated and facilitates creativity. -Physical exercise stimulates cognitive capacity. -Maximum mental capacity is derived from a balance between expending and recovering mental energy. -when we lack the mental muscles we need to perform at our best, we must systematically build capacity by pushing past our comfort zone and then recovering. -Continuing to challenge the brain serves as a protection against age-related mental decline.”

6- “The more preoccupied we are with our own fears and concerns, the less energy we have available to take positive action.”

7- “-spiritual energy provides the force for action in all dimensions of our lives. It fuels passion, perseverance and commitment. -spiritual energy is derived from a connection to deeply held values and a purpose beyond our self-interest. -Character-the courage and conviction to live by our deepest values—is the key muscle that serves spiritual energy. -The key supportive spiritual muscles are passion, commitment. integrity and honesty. -spiritual energy expenditure and energy renewal are deeply interconnected. -Spiritual energy is sustained by balancing a commitment to a purpose beyond ourselves with adequate self-care. -Spiritual work can be demanding and renewing at the same time. -Expanding spiritual capacity involves pushing past our comfort zone in precisely the same way that expanding physical capacity does. -The energy of the human spirit can override even severe limitations of physical energy.”

8- “The search for meaning is among the most powerful and enduring themes in every culture since the origin of recorded history. -The “hero’s journey” is grounded in mobilizing, nurturing and regularly renewing our most precious resource—energy—in the service of what matters most. -when we lack a strong sense of purpose we are easily buffeted by life’s inevitable storms. -Purpose becomes a more powerful and enduring source of energy when its source moves from negative to positive, external to internal and self to others. – A negative source of purpose is defensive and deficit-based. -Intrinsic motivation grows out of the desire to engage in an activity because we value it for the inherent satisfaction it provides. -Values fuel the energy on which purpose is built. They hold us to a different standard for managing our energy. -A virtue is a value in action. -A vision statement, grounded in values that are meaningful and compelling, creates a blueprint for how to invest our energy.”

9-“-Facing the truth frees up energy and is the second stage, after defining purpose, in becoming more fully engaged. -Avoiding the truth consumes great effort and energy. -At the most basic level, we deceive ourselves in order to protect our self-esteem. -Some truths are too unbearable to be absorbed all at once. Emotions such as grief are best metabolized in waves. -Truth without compassion is cruelty—to others and to our selves. -What we fail to acknowledge about ourselves we often continue to act out unconsciously. -A common form of self-deception is assuming that our view represents the truth, when it is really just a lens through which we choose to view the world. -Facing the truth requires that we retain an ongoing openness to the possibility that we may not be seeing ourselves—or others— accurately. -» It is both a danger and a delusion when we become too identified with any singular view of ourselves. We are all a blend of light and shadow, virtues and vices. -Accepting our limitations reduces our defensiveness and increases the amount of positive energy available to us.”

10- “Our dual challenge is to hold fast to our rituals when the pressures in our lives threaten to throw us off track, and to periodically revisit and change them so that they remain fresh.”

11- “-Rituals serve as tools through which we effectively manage energy in the service of whatever mission we are on. -Rituals create a means by which to translate our values and priorities into action in all dimensions of our life. -All great performers rely on positive rituals to manage their energy and regulate their behavior. -The limitations of conscious will and discipline are rooted in t^he fact that every demand on our self-control draws on the same limited resource. -We can offset our limited will and discipline by building rituals that become automatic as quickly as possible, fueled by our deepest values. -The most important role of rituals is to insure effective balance between energy expenditure and energy renewal in the service of full engagement. -The more exacting the challenge and the greater the pressure. the more rigorous our rituals need to be. -Precision and specificity are critical dimensions of building rituals during the thirty- to sixty-day acquisition period. -Trying not to do something rapidly depletes our limited stores of will and discipline. -» To make lasting change, we must build serial rituals, focusing on one significant change at a time.”

Regards,

Omar Halabieh

The Power of Full Engagement

On Take Yourself To The Top

I recently finished reading Take Yourself To The Top – Success from the Inside Out – by Laura Berman Fortgang.

Below are key excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:

1- “If you are feeling stuck, you’ve got only yourself to thank. It means you missed signs that a change was due. You ignored the signs that were loudly screaming, “No, try something else!”not necessarily a new job, but a new strategy, tack, or latent skill. If you feel stuck, somewhere along the way you decided to put up with a lot—for whatever reason—and you have started sinking deeper and deeper into the Unconscious Zone.”

2- “Being a workaholic and deriving your value from how much you can rush through in a day and how many problems you can solve go hand in hand. If you can come to define yourself by who you are and not what you do, you’ll be able to master your addictions to adrenaline and problems, and you’ll be able to step off the treadmill for good. You’U establish a higher quality of life, and you’ll have the room to be the kind of leader you want to be…The next step in shedding your constant overwhelming and workaholic-on-a-treadmill tendencies will be valuing other people and including them in your success.”

3- “Increasing your leadership role in an organization should not mean taking on more than you can bear. It means increasing your scope and vision until you can effect the greatest change.”

4- “Get What You Want and Want What You Have: 1. Recognize and give up external expectations. 2. Start living by your internal wishes (what you really want). 3. Identify your values. 4. Reorient your life and work around your values. 5. Create a crossover plan if you need to. 6. Schedule a weekly time to review and strategize the implementation of your plan. 7. Get a lot of support. 8. Celebrate your new life!”

6- “Go from Being Jammed to Being a Rainmaker: 1. Think BIG. 2. Create your new fish tank. 3. Map it in a 1-3-5-year plan. 4. Choose your ideal client. 5. Play a bigger game (tighten up the infrastructure accordingly). 6. Ask for what you’re worth or more. 7. Go out and play in the rain!”

7- “Go from Hobby to Critical Mass: 1. Make sure you are really an entrepreneur. If you’re mot. shore up the weak areas or find a partner who is s strong in those areas. 2. Make sure you have enough money for six to t\twelve months of expenses. 3. Be profit driven rather than revenue driven. 4. Be able to answer “What do you do?” in one sentence. Develop your point of recognition. 5. Network your way to a great reputation. Develop centers of influence. 6. Add value to your product or service (and to yourself). 7. Get the most out of your business, so it doesn’t get you. This is good time management. 8. Enjoy the American Dream.”

8- “What are you listening for when you speak to a prospect or customer? You’re probably listening for the need or the sale, but I want you to listen/or the person. Listen for who the person is. Remember what I said: You want to listen even for what the) don’t say, and that comes from focusing your attention on then and on anything you can learn about them as people.”

9- “Service: 1) Become the expert…2) Develop a reputation for being the best…3) Share what you learn…4) Provide client extras…5) Say thank you.”

10- “Who You Have to Be: 1) Raise your standards…2) Invest in yourself…3) Decide what you want to be known for.”

11- “Have a plan. You have to build your own career and resume; no one will do it for you. If it seems that a situation is not allowing you to shine, you are not allowing yourself to shine. Get in touch with why you are where you are in the first place. If it’s not the right place, find another. If you feel it’s the right place to be, do all you can to be the kind of person who doesn’t need to manipulate and scheme to be seen. Have an impact on others through the actions you take and the way you take them. Others will notice; you won’t have to point it out.”

12- “Go from Managing to Being the Manager-as-Coach: 1. Be a model. 2. Take the charge out of your voice. 3. Stick to your new job description (mapping, teaching problem solving, endorsing and correcting behavior). 4. Fine-tune your people skills. 5. Listen for clues as to what hinders others’ performance. 6. Welcome aboard, Coach!”

13- “It’s All in How You See It: 1. Realize that what keeps you stuck may be an identity issue. 2. Determine which external image or expectation got you stuck. 3. Get at your real motivation for taking on what you have. 4. Choose differently if it will set you free to make a change.”

14- “Stop Wishing, and Start Turning Around Your Life and Business: 1. Tell the truth to yourself and to everyone else. 2. Get to the source or every symptom. 3. Get plenty of support. 4. Simplify! Downsize! 5. Become profitable immediately (cut expenses, liquidate, moonlight, add products or services). 6. Restore integrity. 7. Put money in the bank. 8. Congratulations; you saved yourself!”

15- “Develop Self-Discipline: 1. Make sure you’re off adrenaline. 2. Adjust your mind-set; know you deserve the result you want. 3. Make yourself your number one priority. 4. Create your daily framework (a structure to achieve discipline). 5. Get at who you want to be, not just what you want to do. 6. Accept that you may need to find creative solutions to help you. 7. Enjoy knowing you can count on yourself You’ve got discipline!”

16- “Ensure Quality Relationships That Can Rocket You to the Top: 1. Identify what kind of relationships you keep now (energy-draining, energy-dependent, or energy exchange). 2. Refocus all your relationships to the energy-exchange level. 3. Develop your inside ten. 4. Develop and nurture your frontline twenty. 5. Deal with people by being of service. 6. If you are a partner, be a good partner. 7. Refocus envy into a positive emotion. 8. Let your relationships rocket you to the top!”

Regards,

Omar Halabieh

Take Yourself to the Top

On The Six Sigma Way

I recently finished reading The Six Sigma Way – How GE, Motorola, And Other Top Companies Are Honing Their Performance by Peter S. Pande, Robert P. Neuman, and Roland R. Cavanagh.

This book is THE reference on Six Sigma. The authors define it as “A comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining and maximizing business success. Six Sigma is uniquely driven by close understanding of customer needs, disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing, improving, and reinventing business processes.”

This work is made up of three major sections. The first part provides an executive summary of this system. The second part focuses on the organizational aspects of adopting this system. The last part, focuses on the actual implementation of Six Sigma including the roadmap and tools. Also included in this book, are numerous appendices that provide further “practical support”.

What sets this book apart is both the breadth and depth in which the topic is discussed. Whether one is a novice or expert, looking to obtain a high level overview or a deep understanding of the subject matter, this book is for you. In addition, the interspersed case studies, examples and tools make it very practical and applicable. After reading this book – one cannot but concur with the authors’ closing remark: “We believe – and hope you agree – that there are enough essential, powerful, and valuable elements to make the Six Sigma system, in some way, part of every successful business. At the same time, we strongly encourage you to adapt the discipline and methods of Six Sigma to best impact your unique culture, industry, market position, people, and strategy. Our biggest fear is that people will “accept” or “reject” Six Sigma as it it were a thing (falling victim to the Tyranny of the Or) and not use it as a flexible system.”

Below are key excerpts from the book, that I found particularly insightful:

1) “The Benefits of Six Sigma: 1) Generates sustained success…2) Sets a performance goal for everyone…3) Enhances value to customers…4) Accelerates the rate of improvement…5) Promotes learning and “cross pollination”…6) Executes strategic change”

2) “Six Themes of Six Sigma: 1) Genuine Focus on the Customer…2) Data- and Fact-Driven Management…3) Process focus, Management, and Improvement…4) Proactive Management…5) Boundaryless Collaboration…6) Drive for Perfection; Tolerance for Failure”

3) “Six Sigma Improvement and Management Strategies: 1) Process Improvement: Finding Targeted Solutions…2) Process Design/Redesign: Building a Better Business…3) Process Management: The Infrastructure for Six Sigma Leadership”

4) “In the Six Sigma Way, we will use and refer to a five-phase improvement cycle that has become increasingly common in Six Sigma organizations: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control – or DMAIC.”

5) “…The ideal roadmap for establishing the Six Sigma system and launching improvements…1) Identify core processes and key customers. 2) Define customer requirements. 3) Measure current performance. 4) Prioritize, analyze, and implement improvements. 5) Expand and integrate the Six Sigma system.”

6) “Five-step measurement implementation model: 1) Select what to measure 2) Develop operational definitions 3) Identify data sources 4) Prepare collection & sampling plan 5) Implement and refine measurement”

7) “We can offer an assessment model, however, based on two major conditions – both of which must be met if process design/redesign is going to work: 1) A major need, threat, or opportunity exists: a) Shifts in customer needs/requirements…b) Demand for greater flexibility…c) New technologies…d) New or changed rules and regulations…e) Competitors are changing…f) Old assumptions (or paradigms) are invalid…g) The current process is “a mess”…2) You’re ready and willing to take on the risk: a) Longer lead-time for change is acceptable…b) Resources and talent are available…c) Leaders, and the organization as a whole, will support the effort…d) The “Risk Profile” is acceptable.”

8) “Process Value Analysis: As processes get more complex, they tend to insulate people from the real reason that customers patronize a business. “Value Analysis” is a way of reemphasizing the key raison d’etre of a business or process by looking at work from the external customer’s point of view. In the analysis, we assign each process step to one of three categories: 1) Value Adding…2) Value Enabling…3) Non-Value-Adding”

9) “Twelve Keys To Success: 1) The Six Sigma Efforts to Business Strategy and Priorities 2) Position Six Sigma as an Improved Way to Manage for Today 3) Keep the Message Simple and Clear 4) Develop Your Own Path to Six Sigma 5) Focus on Short-Term Results 6) Focus on Long-Term Growth and Development 7) Publicize Results, Admit Setbacks, and Learn from Both 8) Make and Investment to Make It Happen 9) Use Six Sigma Tools Wisely 10) Link Customers, Process, Data, and Innovation to Build the Six Sigma System 11) Make Top Leaders Responsible and Accountable 12) Make Learning an Ongoing Activity”

Regards,

Omar Halabieh

The Six Sigma Way

On Super Competent

I recently finished reading Super Competent – The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best by Laura Stack.

The main premise of the book as Laura best describes it is summarized as: “Success will come to those who can accomplish more in less time and consistently perform at their productive best. The people who achieve their fullest potential are not simply competent; they’re SuperCompetent.” The book then goes on to outline the main areas that SuperCompetents excel in:

“SuperCompetent people are better in the following areas than everyone else:

Key 1: Activity – SuperCompetent people are driven by intense focus on priorities and have a clear sense of direction. Value determines priority; priority determines goals; and goals determine activities.

Key2: Availability – SuperCompetent people control their schedules, so they can make time for important activities. They know they can’t be available to everyone every day, so they learn how to control their time and protect it.

Key3: Attention – SuperCompetent people are masters of focus and concentration. They develop the ability to pay attention to the task at hand and tune out distractions that aren’t related to their activities.

Key 4: Accessibility – SuperCompetent people are well organized. They have systems in place to find what they want when they want it and can quickly locate the information needed to support their activities.

Key 5: Accountability – SuperCompetent people possess self-discipline and self-control. They eliminate time wasters, strive for constant improvement, and don’t blame other people when things go wrong.

Key 6: Attitude – SuperCompetent people get the requisite skills and training when they lack ability. They have the motivation, drive, and can-do positivity to make things happen. They’re proactive, decisive, and fast.”

A very direct, practical and direct book. It includes personal assessments and action planning worksheet.

On a closing note, an organization related concept presented in this book that I found particularly helpful is:

“To effectively organize your time, you need several different types of lists. Daily to-do list. Essentially your daily plan or marching orders, this list captures everything you truly intend to get done today…A daily to-do list is the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see before leaving the office. It keeps you focused and on-target throughout the day. Master to-do list. This is a running list of everything you need or want to do. Think of it as your memory list; you need one for work and one for personal items. Every time you think of something you need to do, capture it on your master to-do list…A master to-do list is an ongoing list to keep track of things you might want to do someday that aren’t ready to move to your daily to-do list.”

Regards,

Omar Halabieh

Super Competent

On Getting Things Done

I just finished reading the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. As the title indicates this is a book about re-gaining control of one’s life through high-performance workflow management. There are two key objectives upon which this is based: “(1) capture all the things that need to get done – now, later, someday, big, little, or in between – into a logical and trusted system outside of your head and off your mind; and (2) disciplining yourself to make front-end decisions about all of the “inputs” you let into your life that you will always have a plan for “next actions” that you can implement or renegotiate at any moment.”

The author then goes one to describe the five stages of mastering workflow:

(1) “collect things that command our attention”

(2) “processs what they mean and what to do about them”

(3)”organize the results, which we”

(4)”review as options for what we choose to”

(5)”do”

The above seems rather straightforward and we all perform the above steps in some way shape or form. The key here is to perform all these steps consistently and with the same standard. After all the workflow is only as efficient as the weakest of the steps. David then goes on to describe each stage in detail to help the reader better understand it, and help her to implement techniques and tools to make her more efficient within it. Besides discussing individual tasks, the author spends significant time discussing projects – which require multiple tasks to be completed in order to bring them to close. He goes on to describe how these can be managed using the same framework. This enables handling tasks, regardless of size, scope and/or complexity in a standard manner. One thing that sets this book apart is it’s focus just as equally on the “not to do” than on the “to do” – which are fundamentally two sides of the same coin.

Below are some excerpts that I personally found to be very enlightening:

a) “You need no new skills to increase your productivity – just a new set of behaviors about when and where to apply them.”

b) “the sense of anxiety and guilt doesn’t come from having too much to do; it’s the automatic result of breaking agreements with yourself.”

c) “Organizations must create a culture in which it is acceptable that everyone has more to do than he or she can do, and in which it is sage to renegotiate agreements about what everyone is not doing.”

d) “Real “togetherness” of a group is reflected by the responsibility that all take for defining the real things to do and the specific people assigned to do them, so everyone is freed of the angst of still-undecided actions.”

e) “Getting things going of your own accord, before you’re forced to by external pressure and internal stress, builds a firm foundation of self-worth that will spread into every aspect of your life. You are the captain of your own ship; the more you act from that perspective, the better thing will go for you.”

A very highly recommended read in the area of personal productivity. The advice given in the book is very practical and pragmatic. I have personally adopted the workflow described and have already noticed significant improvement in my personal productivity.

Regards,

Omar Halabieh

Getting Things Done