Results-Only Work Environment :: Part 3

Why Work Sucks and How to Fix it by Cali Ressler & Jody Thompson I lied It was my hope to finish this book by today. Did not happen. It is too good! Ever read a book that requires you to skim (in some cases at very high speeds!) in order to stay awake? This is not one of those I do have a few "Yea, buts" of my own to submit to Cali and Jody, but first, let me tell you that I am on page 161 (out of 201). I stopped this morning with the section break towards the bottom of the page where they ask, are you now "... asking yourself what you can do to bring ROWE into your life." Great question But no, I am not. For two reasons. First, I am a serial entrepreneur and a company of just three: me, myself, and I. So I am already living a ROWE of my own design. And I must admit that all the "warm and fuzzy" feelings that the authors talk of (and the people that they highlight throughput the book also share), are "spot on" as they say. I work 24 hours a day However, I also play 24/7 too. I get ideas at all hours of the day and night. If I showed the posting times on my blog, you would find entries made in most every hour of the night and day. So Cali and Jody were preaching to choir on this aspect of ROWE. I do consider myself more productive when I am not watching the clock. The second reason (why I am not ready to ask that question) is simple: one reading is not enough to take in all the salient points. Like a H. William Dettmer book, this is not a fast read. I have read longer books in a couple of hours; this one has taken me... oh, right. We need to drop that watch watching thing! {grin} Buy the book There I said it. Now, you may continue reading this post (and at least one more that I will write when I do finish the book), or do your own research. Allow me to highlight a couple of points that align with my Purple Curve Effect:

"It's one of those ROWE paradoxes. Give people more freedom and they respond not with less focus but with more."

I could not agree more. As I ask (over and over), "How do you get more done with less?" Focus. The effect I documented in my book is very simple. In fact, if you discounted it as "too simple" to be effective, guess again. The old expression that what gets measured gets done is only part of the equation. As I have repeatedly stated, the Balanced Scorecard approach is flawed. Yes, large Fortune 500 companies like Intel can revise it almost into something that works better than a lot of other tools (most of the time), but why bother? Remember the U2 spy plane? Kelly Johnson applied focus to those measurements by eliminating bad multitasking. The good news, people need to multitask. The bad news, when like a computer's CPU, a human is sent an outside "interrupt" notice, we get derailed. However, most often when we naturally reach a natural "forking point", it will turbo boost our performance. But I digress...

"Jokes about time—even really, really funny ones—erode trust."

Buy "Why Work Sucks" Then, write your own review. Send me your link. -ski P.S. Need gift ideas for that hard to buy for superior? Buy this book! ---- Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.linkedin.com/in/consultski Dover, OH | Hilton Head Island, SC | Las Vegas, NV Phone: (330) 432-3533 tag: Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson ©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.