Business Book Review: Do More Great Work by Michael Bungay Stanier
Why live a life of merely bad or good work when it can be great? To find your great work, Stanier is your guide.
My Rating: ★★★★
Length: 208 pages
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Released: 2010
Key Takeaways for Personal Branding
In Do More Great Work, award winning coach, Michael Stanier, helps you separate the busy work from the ‘Great Work’.
Bad, Good and Great Work
Stanier’s idea of ‘Great Work’ is inspired by graphic designer, Milton Glaser. If you haven’t heard of him, you’re likely familiar with his iconic I ♡ NY design. In his book, Art is Work, Milton defines three categories of work:
Bad Work — a waste of time, energy and life. Doing it once is one time too many.
Good Work — it’s familiar, useful, and productive. This is where you likely spend most of your time. It’s a result of the training, education and path you’ve travelled thus far. Your Good Work is a source of comfort, nourishment and success.
Great Work — work that’s meaningful, has an impact and makes a difference. It inspires, stretches and provokes you. It’s the work that matters.
The Great Work is what you want more of. But, as it’s new and challenging, it’s also uncomfortable and uncertain.
Stanier uses a series of map exercises to help you identify your Great Work.
The Paradox of Choice
For your Great Work, possibilities can be overwhelming. Stanier’s process helps you chunk down to the most important Great Work. He reminds you of the paradox of choice.
Research conducted in a gourmet food store demonstrated this. Participants were offered either six or 24 varieties of jam. They tried about the same number of jams in both versions. But, 30 percent of people who tasted from the line up of six bought jam. Only 3 percent of those who tasted from the line up of 24 purchased jam.
What support do you need?
Stanier proposes that there are three types of people you need to support your Great Work:
People with skills
People with influence
People who love you
Of the last, saying:
“They will offer cheers, hugs, and unconditional support. Don’t underestimate just how important and sustaining these are. Spend more time with these people, be they friends or family.”
Favourite Quotes
“The Greatest Work we can do is to follow the model of Nicholas Fueni. Love your garden, know it as well as you can, nurture it, make it the best it can be, expect nothing in return. Ironically, this simple formula produces the best possible results.”
“One of the most insidious barriers to Great Work is the obsession with “results”. This focus can often blind us to the very meaning of work itself — especially if the hoped-for results are misconceived.”
“…at the very heart of doing more Great Work, it would be this: “What are you saying yes to? And by saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?”
“Storytelling is a way to visualize the future so you can make it more concrete.”
“If it comes down to two choices, and you can’t quite decide which one to put your money on, here’s a simple process to try: Toss a coin, assigning one option to heads and the other to tails. As the coin spins in the air, notice whether it’s heads or tails you’re hoping for. That’s the option you want.”
“Opportunities for Great Work lurk everywhere, not just in what’s going smoothly but also in what’s not.”
“Different years demand different responses. Some years are “stretch” years when you go for it; others are years to conserve your strength, gathering ideas and laying the groundwork for your next initiative.”
In Stanier style, Do More Great Work is highly succinct. Yet, it’s equally as thought-provoking. He will have you separating the bad and good from the great in all you do.
Do More Great Work by Michael Bungay Stanier: Available on Amazon.
