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

by Michael Bungay Stanier, Seth Godin (Contributor), Leo Babauta (Contributor)

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 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 who’s found a way to move us away from bad work (and even good work), and toward more time spent doing great work.When you’re 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 strengths—and that matters.The exercises are "maps"—brilliantly simple visual tools that help you find, start and sustain Great Work, revealing how clues to your own Great Work—they’re all around youLocate the sweet spot between what you want to do and what your organization wants you to doGenerate new ideas and possibilities quicklyBest manage your overwhelming workloadDouble the likelihood that you’ll do what you want to doAll it takes is ten minutes a day, a pencil and a willingness to change. Do More Great Work will not only help you identify what the Great Work of your life is, it will tell you how to do it.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Productivity, Personal Development, Leadership, Management

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2010

About the author

Hi - I'm a book reader, writer and lover.

I'm best known for *The Coaching Habit*, the best-selling book on coaching this century. (Close to a million copies sold!)

I'm also the host of the podcast *2 Pages with MBS* where brilliant people read the best two pages of a favourite book.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really rudimentary stuff with some cute "maps." Don't waste your time with it.

[Arthur Cravan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if I've ever come up against this problem before, but I don't know how to rate this book. I'm giving it a four, which at first made me wonder 'why? There's nothing wrong with it. It gets quite exciting, it's not too preachy, the exercises are useful.' So I wondered why I didn't feel like giving it five stars. Because, in a way, I feel like giving it three stars. I can't really account for that, either. It's a mixture between my own lack of comprehension and guilt that's leading to four stars, because I wouldn't feel right giving this book just a three.
I went through the book over the course of about two weeks, maybe that's the problem. Maybe if I'd done it all in about 3 days, it would have been a more clear-cut answer.

Anyway, I do recommend this book to just about anyone. If you really want, you can cut corners & skip certain things. I personally didn't do most of the maps the way they're set out, but took inspiration from those questions & directions to still dig deep. I found out some surprising things. & I'm not used to that. So check it out sometime.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple advice, but the maps/exercises really help you put things into focus.

[Teri Temme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to start the year! Best takeaway: do more of what is working. So often we focus on what is not working. Great maps to help you discover YOUR Great Work.

[Roderick Vonhogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book that questions you about the work you do and what you say 'yes' or 'no' to. I wish I had read this book 15 years ago instead of discovering a lot of the insights in this book the hard way by trial and error. The author is an experienced coach, which becomes clear in the to-the-point questions he asks you throughout the book.

[Vladimir · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are 3 types of job: Bad job, Good job and Great job. The aim of this book is to find a way to you PERSONAL great job.
Interesting book with a lot of practical tips and hints which did not help me in finding the Great job as I am probably not looking for it right now, but helped to realise other aspects of my professional life. Worth reading!
PS: I did not make the exercises as I did not want to. Probably too lazy or not engaged enough, as well I was not expected to do more than just reading and absorbing information.
Interesting thoughts:

1) What to do in a situation where you feel something is not going well or when you want to convince somebody ... create 3 scenarios - happy day scenario, failure scenario and neutral scenario. Follow the structure of a story for each scenario ( 1) Once upon a time ... 2) Until something ... 3) But finally ... )

2) How to "refuse"/"reject":
A) Why me? Did you try somebody else?
B) What is it and when it has to be done? Could it be only partially done? How much time does it take? What's the result?
C) What are the consequences? What shall I left so that I have time for this job? How does it go with our other 3 priorities?

3) Find your ideal / exemplar and ask question to this "hypothetical" or real person in situations where you are not sure and what would they do?

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

To get the most out of this book, it is necessary to put extra work into the exercises. I have read many management books, and a lot of what is here is also in other books. However, I believe that the value of a specific book depends on how receptive the reader is at the time. At this point in my life, I am more receptive to this book and willing to put the extra work into the exercises than I was even a year ago. Therefore I found it very helpful and useful in getting out of the rut that I was in.

[Donna Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you read it like a novel, it would seem to be boring and not much help. It's a WORK book style, not a reading-for-pleasure book. BUT if you take the time to think about each chunk of the map, then you'll get much out of it.
No need to make copies of the worksheet maps. Their website has put them all in a pdf for you http://dmgw.s3.amazonaws.com/Do-More-...
along with an ecourse!

[Ahmad Moshrif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since a very long time, I've never read a great book about real self-development, This is a rich book about how to change the way you spend your day-to-day work. However, to get the best out of this book you should act with its Maps and homeworks.

I really recomend this book for every ambitious worker.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book. I had more insights from doing 3 exercises than I've had in double the amount of coaching sessions.

[Sandeep · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped reading after first few pages. Not practical.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review to come...

[Vojta Svoboda · Rating 4 out of 5]

[CZ] Překvapivě praktická knížka, která umožní čtenáři pomocí patnácti map zorientovat se v jeho životě a určit tzv Skvělou práci, kterou by rád dělal. Díky mapám, do kterých lze psát buď přímo v knize, nebo je vytisknout z online stránek, se můžeme po každé kapitole pustit do praktické části, která spočívá ve vyplnění této mapy. Většina map je čistý papír rozdělený do několika částí a pro čtenáře funguje jako určitý koučovací prvek, kterým si dokáže srovnat své myšlenky, nebo nové myšlenky vytvořit. První část map umožní definovat osobu čtenáře, jakou práci právě dělá, v čem je dobrý a jaká práce ho baví. Prostřední část se zabývá hledáním skvělé práce, což je práce která nás baví a naplňuje. Poslední část je o sestavení plánu, jak se ke skvělé práci dostat a udržet si jí. Knížka vychází ze známých knih od autorů jako je Leo Babauta, Seth Godin, Franklin Covey a přináší tak souhrn nejlepších praktik a zkušeností.

[Kevin Eikenberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael opens this book by quoting Milton Glaser (the artist responsible for the well-known “I Heart NY” logo), who wrote that:

Do More Great WorkAll work is either bad work, good work, or great work.

He then takes you on a working journey to create more great work in your life.

Michael does this like any great coach would (he is the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year). He provides resources (there are short original pieces from a bunch of other smart people – like Seth Godin). He offers quotations. He asks (great) questions. He gives you worksheets and tools to help you get there. And, he helps you reflect or debrief your work with each tool.

- See more at: http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/leade...

[Joy Weese Moll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do More Great Work is an attractive small format book with lots of sidebars, guest columns, and worksheets. The exercises take the reader through a process of self-discovery and environment-evaluation to illuminate potential opportunities for great work. Once a Great Work Project has been identified, more exercises provide a path to move forward with the work.

More thoughts on my blog, including how I misinterpreted the title: Do More Great Work

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

My boss and I read this book together and completed the "maps" in the book over a 4-month period. If nothing else, the book helps you think about your work differently than you did before. Some things you do at work really isn't "work" and some things (most things) are good work we all do every day. However, it's the "great" work that truly matters making your footprint in the company. This "great" work changes the direction of a group, dept. or company. The book helps you to identify this "great" work and do more of it. Recommended.

[Robert Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seems like a simplistic title and perhaps another book spewing the same hype, but it's not. This book is short, direct to the point, and offers up a ton of practical guidance.

What I liked best was the mapping aids and how they followed a progressive way of getting to a logical end - doing more great work.

[John Stepper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A breezy book that might help you rethink some assumptions about work. Odds are, you'll have read similar things elsewhere, but for the small investment it took to read this small book, it was worth it.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

The map exercises are good if you're completely lost, but I think I'd sum up the book as this:

1. Reflect on work that you have felt great about
2. Continually refocus and realign your goals to maximize this type of work

[Rolando · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great excercises for knowing yourself and the kind of work you're doing in your company. I found extreme valuable each recommendation, not just because it's customizable but because they're so focused it's impossible to get lost.

[Angela Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know how you should always do the exercises when you read books like this? Well, do the exercises. I didn't, and I know I would have got a lot more out of it if I had. The way they make you think about your life is pretty cool.

[Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empecé a leer este libro y lo abandoné porque me pareció que solo contenía frases obvias y poco profundas. También es verdad que yo ya había leído otras cosas sobre esta temática.

No lo recomiendo salvo que sea tu primer libro sobre la temática.

[Laurie Neighbors · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a glutton for punishment.

[Kristine]

I'll admit, I didn't read all of this. for the place I'm at, it was a little "high-level" analysis, and I'm sure it's good info that I could come back to in a month or a year.

[Colleen Wainwright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really useful (and fun) exercises in here for unsticking yourself, thinking differently, etc.

[Cate Meredith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this to be very basic, unfortunately. I found one or two ideas that clicked, but on the whole... not for me.

[Shy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interactive book. The maps are great and the content is precise and useful. Highly recommend to anyone looking to advance their career or find their next project.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would call this book a great read and one meant to be done and shared with a small group of people.

The book is highly interactive.

[Noha · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب رهيب لرجال الأعمال والعاملات وغيرهم بس أفكاره تستحق القراءة!

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A refresher with a few good nuggets and reminders.