Toronto author proposes ways to maximize work efforts
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 20, 2011
Do More Great Work book cover
Photos: Workman Publishing
Work, work and more work. It seems everyday is filled with work and yet some people feel they are stuck in a rut that keeps them from growing and reaching higher goals. Is it possible to keep working and aspire to grow and develop new skills? How? Michael Bungay Stanier, a Toronto resident and founder of a company that assists companies who want to improve their productivity thinks he knows a way.
In Do More Great Work Stop the busywork and start the work that matters, a 200-page book published last year, he begins by addressing the definition of Great Work. He sees it as work that has impact and makes a difference. Then he outlines fifteen exercises for people who want to improve the quality of their work. He believed so much in his message he self published the book.
The goal he proposes is to identify ways to improve and find work that engages and challenges the worker, has a real impact, plays to his or her strengths and matters. He relies on what he calls Maps or “pause buttons in disguise.”
The softcover square book is divided into fifteen Maps and 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 Continuing Your Great Work Journey.
Michael Bungay Stanier, author, Do More Great Work
The author believes by dedicating 10 minutes a day motivated readers of his book will find ways they can produce Great Work, locate the balance between the job requirements and their needs, produce new ideas, manage their workload effectively, and double the likelihood that they will do what they want to do at work.
Bungay Stanier is the founder and senior partner of Box of Crayons, a company that works with organizations such as AstraZeneca and Xerox to help them do more great work. A Rhodes Scholar, he earned arts and law degrees with highest honors from Australian National University and an MPhil from Oxford. He was named Canadian Coach of the Year in 2006.
Click to buy Do More Great Work