Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

by David Sturt

Great work lives inside all of us. The question is: Do we make the contributions we're capable of? Is our best work getting out there? Breaking through? Creating a difference the world loves? We've long been told our ability to succeed depends on our IQ, talent, education level, gender, job title, or when and where we were born. Great Work turns that conventional thinking on its head to reveal that innovation can come from anyone, anywhere. Especially you. With insights from the largest-ever study of award-winning work, Great Work reveals five practical skills that will help you ideate, innovate, and deliver work that gets noticed and appreciated. Great Work is filled with stories of real people in real jobs who did what was asked and then added something extra--a personal touch all their own--to deliver better-than-asked-for results. Their stories will inspire you to write your own page in the book of human progress (co-authored by Mark Cook and Chris Drysdale). PRAISE FOR GREAT WORK " Great Work has me believing anyone can deliver a difference. I predict that 'making a difference people love' will embed itself in our lexicon for decades to come." -- STEPHEN M. R. COVEY, AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLER THE SPEED OF TRUST "I recommend it to everyone, from every background, who has dreams of accomplishing great work." -- BARBARA CORCORAN, REAL ESTATE MOGUL, "SHARK" ON ABC'S SHARK TANK "We all know difference makers who, in small ways, make a profound impact on how we work and live. This book helps us celebrate them." -- TOM POST, MANAGING EDITOR, FORBES MEDIA " Great Work is a great work. It educates, inspires, and offers specific tools any employee or leader can use." -- DAVE ULRICH, PROFESSOR, ROSS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN; PARTNER, THE RBL GROUP "It takes passion, risk, and foresight to think beyond the status quo and see problems as opportunities. This book is inspiration for doing exactly that." -- KARIM RASHID, INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED DESIGNER "Outstanding! A must read. Great Work will give you a whole new toolkit for success." -- LARRY KING, LEGENDARY INTERNATIONAL RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTER

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Leadership, Psychology, Book Club, Personal Development

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

David Sturt is an Executive Vice President of the O.C. Tanner Company. His career began in market research, where he studied and analyzed the effects of people being recognized for great work. In the two decades since, he has researched and developed several multi-million dollar services that engage employees, inspire above and beyond contribution, and reward outstanding results in organizations around the world. He regularly consults with Fortune 1000 company leaders and speaks at conferences across the U.S., Canada, and the UK. He has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, Human Capital, and other media outlets.

Reviews

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone can do good work, but it takes stepping out of your comfort zone and asking the right questions to do great work. Great work sometimes takes a little addition (like adding heat to seats in cars) and sometimes a little subtraction (taking the developing time out of picture taking). It is about always going that extra step to make it unexpected or just a little better. There were lots of real life examples - from the guy who developed the prototype for the snowboard (snurfing - I kid you not) to Dr Seuss who was challenged to write a fun and interesting children's book using a limited number of easy to read words and in the process changed the face of children's literature. We learn that Land was inspired to create the instant camera by his daughter who wanted to know why she had to wait for her photos. So many inventions and processes come from going that extra step and asking why. This was a thought provoking read.

[Diana Nagy · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is most of your life spent doing? Work! (For most of us, Anywhoo) So what is something that you might want to consider while considering this fact? Simply this: Great Work! How to Make a Difference People Love. This book includes all the different ways people are making a difference in their work. It includes advice to the reader on what they can do to ensure that they get to great work in their own lives. Its essential to live life happy and the one thing that will affect our happiness is how we feel in our work. Since we spend so much time doing it, there's no reason why we shouldn't focus on doing two things at the same time...finding work that is great and making people feel good by doing it! This book will help you get to this point!

[Alaeddin Hallak · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have book to learn the recipe of how create your next innovation.

[Achmad Lutfi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pekerjaan besar. Karya yang luar biasa. Selalu dimulai dari pertanyaan sederhana.

Ada pesan di sana, bahwa yang tampak kecil itu bisa jadi berharga. Jangan abaikan pertanyaan. Ia adalah awal dari rasa ingin tahu. Sambut dengan kemampuan dan pengetahuan kita. Maka yang good bisa berubah jadi great.

Aha! Kemudian TALK! Ini ide yang menarik dari penulis. Bicara, bertukar kabar, berbagi pikiran, bercerita, itu peluang besar mengasilkan sesuatu yang hebat di masa depan. Garis perjalanan kita tentu berbeda dengan garis perjalanan orang lain. Di dalam perbincangan, itu adalah titik temu garis-garis antara kita.

Pengalaman kita bisa berharga buat orang lain. Pun pengalaman orang lain buat kita. Jangan sepelekan perbincangan!

[Marc Timbers · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. I am not the fastest of readers or someone who manages to put the time in for myself to read and so have been reading this on and off for probably 2+ years.

Whilst it gives a good idea of what is needed for "great work" there is no solid route of how to actually do this, but an inventive and creative mind will put the 5 main ideas into practice when needed.

Thanks for some insightful stories which were good for inspiration, and definitely wet the appetite to give them a go. These could happily be applied to all aspects of life not just work...

1/3 of this book was introduction, appendices, acknowledgement and then index.... Appendix c and appendix d were worth the read... Quotes from the interviews and some basic graphs!

Thanks for the book!

[Samuel Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy read, the author has a captive writing style those flows smoothly. I would compare the writing style to how Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People. It follows the pattern of here is a real-life example, what they did and the decisions they made, followed by a small analysis of why it worked.

Towards the middle, the author implemented a system which is really just common sense stuff wrapped around a diagram. I think the examples spoke louder than the system the author tried to implement around them.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It isn’t the type of book i would normally read, as i would feel like it “doesn’t apply to me” but I found the stories fascinating. I loved learning about normal, everyday people coming up with great ideas and innovations to make their world better. A great read (and having the author share his story about writing the book was really interesting too)!

[Mayrald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it. I love how the idea and the stories on how to do great work were presented. It's also research-based so there's no point of questioning the how-tos. It gives you a vision to see yourself in the big picture of doing great work. You can do great work no matter who you are. It's really simple and easy to follow. All you gotta do is execute the steps on making a difference people love.

[Ali Akbar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, like the other motivational book. This book gives you a lot of example and "framework" to give a very best result on working. This book doesn't tell you what you should do to solve your problem specifically. It gives you all the option available based on their research and examples from many peoples.

[Mydeen Yussouf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lot of research has gone into writing this book and the author has put in a lot of thought in presenting the findings of those research. Love the graphical representations of those ideas.

Fav quote: "How do you prepare an apple pie from scratch? You start by creating the universe"

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely geared to the business world, as the name implies. Has small sections at the end to review and further experiment. I enjoyed the sections on asking the right questions, reframing your role and talking to your outer circle, all of which had relevant ideas for my life.

[Ivy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a book I would have chosen. I felt like it had some ideas on how to be a better employee, but nothing earth shattering. It was very reminiscent of the 7 Habits books. It just wasn't well written. It has a purpose, but it just wasn't for me.

[Choco · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a book with simple five rules that’s nicely elaborated in each chapter with convincing examples. Instead of boasting at strategies, it focus at the simplest rules of story telling. Thus it’s more like a light reading that reminds us at all the possible opportunities that’s around us.

[Suriel Chacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. Entertaining while inspiring and I loved the examples provided. It's a must for any managers or leaders. I am eager to start putting this into practice and plan on recommending to several other entrepreneurs such as myself.

[Janelle Año · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read with actionable insights that you can apply to your work, no matter what your position or level of responsibility is.

Key points:
1. Ask the right question.
2. See for yourself.
3. Talk to your outer circle.
4. Improve the mix.
5. Deliver the difference.

[Stephen Ricci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! I liked that the learning points came from real stories about well know products or services. There was also a significant amount of data to back everything that was talked about. Very professional.

[Chris]

What big problems have become invisible? (Unfixable, if you face them you’d have to address it…)

How difference-makers think and what they do

How they think:
Getting work done vs a difference to make (mindset shift)
Get to know your audience- needs, interests, priorities
“Job crafting”- Jane Dutton - study: how people in unglamorous jobs cope w unappreciated work. Discovered that they view their job differently (ex. Hospital janitors - get to know patients, help in small ways)
- take existing job description and expand to fit ways to make a difference. Show initiative and expand boundaries beyond job requirements to make jobs more meaningful AND benefit others
- benefit both me and we
- reframing - how your work affects others, seeing benefit and impact of your work on others to being more meaning and see yourself as a change- maker
- take something good and make it better (not necessarily start from zero) good to great; great work built on good work.
- look at constraints as an opportunity to make a difference

Pause; Ask the right question when addressing a problem (vs jumping right into problem solving) listen to your gut insights and wild ideas
- what would people love?

[Eduardo de Souza Lima · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good book; it helps you think outside the box and honestly consider things from a different perspective. I feel that the writer uses too many examples to prove a point, which, in my opinion, could be made with one example or a brief explanation. Other than that, the book is a great read.

[Ekaterina Pushkareva · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, there are so many good examples how an ordinary employee can change his job and change his attitude to work.

[Natalia Rox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories to illustrate the ideas within these chapters. I found it really helpful as someone working on honing their business skills.

[Mike Studdard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read despite the depth of research that went into the conclusions. Good content. Actionable.

[Serene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome content, but felt like it was written to be a speech, not a book. Made it hard to read at times. Neat & inspiring stories that apply to individuals across industries, tiers, etc.

[Kathleene Capote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indeed this is a great work. Job well done to the author and team. I say the gist is at the last part.

[Michael Levitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring and easy to follow.

[Ansari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read and content flows smoothly. Examples given can easily relate to ordinary people. Concisely written, straight to the point and is not wordy.

[Value investor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple and straight forward book with simple ideas. short read

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acudí a un taller llevado a cabo por OC Tanner donde me obsequiaron este libro, así que lo leí simplemente porque lo tenía, no porque me interesara la temática. Sin embargo me lleve una sorpresa ya que las historias que cuenta se presentan muy interesantes y la forma en la que narran los acontecimientos hace quieras saber más. Recomendable.

[Kasandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway, looked forward to reading it, and found it interesting and intriguing. I may go back and up my stars later, to 4 or even 5, but first I want to try this out and see what happens in my particular workplace over time once I start asking the right questions. Inspiring, but could also prove to be a bit too broad and/or vague (it never tackles issues in severely dysfunctional workplaces, which I'd argue are numerous, yet not covered here -- you see teams working together and communicating, but if you work somewhere where teamwork doesn't happen, nor does communication, and making changes is frowned upon unless you're upper management, then what do you do? Read on to find out). A couple of the examples quoted of "difference makers" are people who've made positive light of what many would consider menial jobs; though they may be all the happier for it, and they certainly are benefiting many around them who are thankful for their dedication and willingness to go the extra mile, I think the book glosses over the true lack of power many have to truly influence their jobs in a way that allows them to do more than "feel good about it"; that is, in a way that rewards them in other than spiritual or ethical terms: upward movement in terms of real authority, increased responsibility and challenge, and increased earnings/economic justice. I know one book can't cover all the bases, but I'm not sure those coming to this text from a lower socioeconomic status are going to connect with this work, which paints a sort of rosy picture about work in America by focusing only on the shiny positives.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my full review:http://bit.ly/138pfSV

My opinion: Gotta say that this book should be a "No Duh" book. Unfortunately, we see in corporations worldwide...it isn't.

The book's focus was on what we do as individuals to do the best work that we can do? Do we demand the best from ourselves in creativity in our work lives?

I have to admit that I did take it that way, but my questions were also targeted towards organizations:

1) Do we, as an organization foster our employees to do the best that they can do?

2) Do we encourage creativity in our employees (from front line staff to leadership) to come up with new processes bolstering productivity and products or do we stifle our employees thus stifling our business?

Mr. Sturt gives excellent "case examples" and follows up with critical data. My favorite of the entire book were the key take-aways that summed up the chapters with a huge exclamation point.

[Georgia Roybal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book as a First Reads prize. It gives a lot of great suggestions as to how to make things better no matter what your situation is. The suggestions include asking questions, observing what others are doing, asking for input from people outside your field of interest, etc. It also give great real-world examples of people who have followed the principles outlined and how it turned out for them.

I always ask how this book applies to me. For 20 years, I worked for myself and used many of the ideas in this book on a daily basis. When the recession hit, my non-profit ran out of money and I had to go back to work in the very bureaucratic, institutionalized system of public schools. I have only 1.5 more years before I can retire and go back to something more rewarding. However, thanks to this book, I am inspired to do the best I can to make my job a more satisfying and difference-making one while I am still working there.