Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters.

I recently met Michael at a conference where I not only had the pleasure of hearing him speak, but also to speaking to him personally.

Not all authors walk their talk, Michael does. He really does want you to do great work. For me that matters. When I know the author is first motivated by his mission I am more motivated to use his teachings.

If I had any doubt about doing great work before reading Michael's work, I don't now.

I think one of the hallmarks of the time we are living in is that we have been getting more efficient. Well, at least potentially so. A lot of us don't just want to live well, we want to live supremely well and in every significant area of our lives. We don't want to just accomplish a few things, we want to accomplish a lot, and not just things but great things. I know not every one is like this, but I'm talking about those who do want these things.

There are books available on improving your thinking, your memory, you diet, living longer. You can take classes, often even online classes, to become an expert in a great many things---marathon running, oil painting, professional cooking, novel writing.

I can hit on a lot of things I'd like to learn, improve at, or even start a business doing. But the minute I set some goals, a schedule, make a decision, I am hit with hurdles, often doubts and fear, obstacles within and without. But now I can turn to this fine book for timely and potent help with these and other issues that may arise.

If you're the type of person that would like to do great things in your life, "Do More Great Work" can help. It's a thought-provoking book, a workbook really, that can provide you with the tools to find out what you want to do and how to go about it.

Throughout the text are worksheets called "maps" that the reader can fill out to help her determine where she is at, what she wants to do, what creative possibilities are open to her, and then create a plan for getting where she wants to. There are 15 maps in the book, and more information at the author's website, "box of crayons."

This book is reader-friendly, fun to read, and filled with practical wisdom and humor. And, it's recommended by David Allen, which is plenty for me.

Highly recommended.

Michael provides practical exercises that drives home the intent of the book. The exercises drives home the meaning of Bad Work, Good Work and Great Work. His use of maps to illustrate his methods is great for making the concepts stick. This is a must read if you want to improve your productivity, enjoy your work more, and play to your strengths.

Okay, soon the first quarter of 2011 will be gone -- making any progress so far? Do More Great Work puts resources into your hands - maps, ideas, concepts and quotations - right now. Action follows quickly too. If you're always struggling with an unmanageable to-do list, with commitments way out-of-hand, and a sneaking suspicion that you could and should be doing your Great Work instead of all of the rest, then this book is ready to help!
Sixteen greatly accessible maps bring me back again and again, for my own use and for others in my life who need a mental re-set. Every one of the maps has come in handy for me since I first started with the book.
My current favorite is Map 9: What's Possible? It's a sure-fire way to give yourself room to come up with some new ideas for approaching... well, whatever it is that you need to approach. The accompanying quotation is "If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want and all that is left is a compromise" from Robert Fritz.
Great first step for the procrastinator, the super-cautious, the lost, or for those of us who sometimes just fall for "the first right answer".
So, here's the questions:
What's the fun thing to do?
What the easiest thing to do?
What's the fastest thing to do?
What's the bravest thing to do?
What's the provocative thing to do?
And here's the answer: Get this book! Your Great Work awaits!

This is the expanded book that follows Find Great Work, I reviewed Get Unstuck and Get Going and this is a worthwhile adjunct to it. The book has utility for the employed and self employed. I think it speaks strongest to those who seek to get going in an organization. For the legions of Gen Y and Millennials out there, here is the what color is your parachute, for your generation. Short and concise the book is a very useful read, full of get-to-the-point-quickly activities. Check out his website, domoregreatwork.com

As Michael Bungay Stanier explains, "This book is the sum of my work with thousands of people around the world as a coach and facilitator. It uses just fifteen key tools - conceptual maps to help you identify what really matters to you, what drives the choices and the actions you take, and how you can get onto a path to more creative, motivated, and inspired work that's good for you and for those you work for." Presumably some purpose-driven people can be happy, content, and fulfilled by obtaining great wealth, power, etc.

As I worked my way through Stanier's narrative, I was again reminded of Teresa Amabile's admonition, "Do what you love and love what you do." In her various writings, she also stresses the importance of having a purpose that includes but is not limited to achieving personal goals. For Dave and Ulrich, this means "the why of work." For Simon Sinek, it suggests the imperative to "start with why." Stanier joins the discussion when expressing the first of six "Great Work Paradoxes": You don't need to save the world but you do need to make a difference...a positive, productive, beneficial difference. More about the other paradoxes later.

Stanier invokes the journey as his central metaphor and presents his information, observations, insights, cautions, caveats, and recommendations within the framework of a journey that involves both sustained effort (e.g. reflection, completing separate but interrelated exercises, maintaining commitment and focus) and significant discovery (i.e. revelations of what really is -- and isn't -- most important). The ultimate objective is to Do More Great Work. This is not a destination because the journey of discovery should never end until one's life does.

The reader is asked to complete a series of exercises in a sequence of 15 Maps, each posing a question. The first, logically enough, asks "Where are you now?" because "you need to know your starting point" and the last asks "Lost your Great Work mojo?" if and when "you wander off the oath." The 15 Maps are organized within Seven Parts: Laying the Foundation, Seeds of Your Great Work, Uncovering Your Great Work, Pick a Project, Create New Possibilities, Your Great Work Plan, and finally, Continuing Your Great Work Journey. It is important to note that Stanier immediately establishes and then sustains a direct, personal rapport with his reader and throughout the "journey" serves several different functions: instructor, mentor, travel agent, bodyguard, cheerleader, and for some of the "pilgrims" who read this book, he also serves as a mirror that offers reflections that may be unpleasant to behold.

With regard to the map exercises, Stanier offers four tips: (1) make them yours, (2) find five minutes in your day to work on them, (3) use the maps in the order that makes the most sense to you, and (4) don't worry abut getting everything perfect. As for the "Six Great Work Paradoxes," the first asserts that "you don't need to save the world" but " you do need to make a difference," followed by Great Work Can Be Either Public or Private, Great Work Is Both Needed and Not Wanted, Great Work Is Both Easy Difficult, Great Work Is About Doing What's Meaningful But Not Always About Doing It Well, and finally, Great Work Can Take a Moment or It Can Take a Lifetime. Here's my take:

1. Start now.
2. Do the best you can.
3. Keep doing the best you can.
4. Expect surprises.
5. If you get knocked down, get back up.
6. Keep going.
7. Review 3-6.

This is a visually stimulating book, with the material well-organized and exercises clearly explained. That said, I should also suggest that it really will require a great deal of rigorous thinking and therefore I strongly recommend that key passages be highlighted and reviewed frequently. Actually, this is not a book; it's a WORKbook. Bon voyage!

Definitely worth a go. I have already made some positive changes and am only half way through.
I also found the accompanying email course short, pointed and very helpful. Go the 8 bucks, you only need one good helpful insight and you're winning!

I was shocked when I did the initial assessment in the book of how much bad work I was doing, and therefore not enough good and great work.

I have really enjoyed the read. Nothing like a kick in the pants when we need it!

I particularly valued the 15 exercises in the book which Michael calls "maps". I have found these very useful and have already made some adjustments to how I go about my life and work.

As a result of my adjustments I am going to do more great work. I hope you will read this book and Do More Great Work too.

You will find that just by going through a handful of the exercises, your thinking will change and your perspective becomes larger. When I worked on the "who are your role models" (Map # 4)it quickly became evident that there was a common thread for me and specific actions I needed to take. It's impossible to begin to recognize what's really important to you and not act on it. This little book stays on my desk with my favorite pages tabbed. It's been powerful for me and a number of my clients.(Especially those who are struggling with what comes next.) Even if you need a nudge (or shove) get this book and challenge yourself to work through at least one of the exercises (and then tell someone what you are saying no to).

I have searched the bookstore over for books that help will help me with the direction and motivation for my life. Truly, I spent my 20's in the motivational and business sections of the bookstore and now in my 30's have quite the collection that I've donated to used book sales. "Do More Great Work" will not be donated and belongs on most, if not all bookshelves or bed side tables, somewhere that it will be read and re-read, worked through and re-worked through. I first learned about "Do More Great Work" through Danielle LaPorte's work and signed up for Michael Stanier's newsletters and his Box of Crayon's 7 Questions e-course. If you haven't done so, head over to his website and check out these resources. Michael's work is valuable for the entrepreneur as well as someone climbing the corporate ladder. It is valuable for someone fresh out of school or in the workforce for the last 20 years. It is valuable for a stay at home Mom or someone who has worked outside of the home consistently. We all have the opportunity to do great work, but if you need some direction and motivation, pick up Michael's "Do More Great Work".