Great at Work: The Hidden Habits of Top Performers

by Morten T. Hansen

cardiologists agreed to try it without their involvement, but on one condition: the emergency room physicians had to obsess to diagnose right the first time.

By doing less work—taking away a step in making the diagnosis—Anne and the rest of the team lifted their performance.

a principle called Occam’s razor,27 which stipulates that people should pursue the simplest explanation possible in science and other areas.

As few as you can, as many as you must.

“Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.”

You can apply Occam’s razor to simplify and narrow the scope of your work.

go from many to few.

concentrate on fewer but better clients:29

Tim ferriss also talks about this in 4-hour work week. Seth Godin second this as well. Cull your audience and do it better.

The idea was to narrow the scope to one client segment—senior searches in media—and to do higher-quality work.

Also, defined the rules for excellent work, then saying no is obvious and the why is clear. Saying no to do your work better for your clients is the generous act.

If using Occam’s razor is working smarter, you might wonder why most people don’t do it.

people cling to options, even when those options no longer provide any value whatsoever.30 “We have an irrational compulsion to keep doors open,”

To perform at your best, discipline yourself to

shave away any options that you stick with for psychologi...

Jim Collins on advice he got for high risk,creative project--don't hedge. Keeping options open in a creative project (or in pursuit of excellence) had negative value.

There are two circumstances when you may want to “do more” and not focus, at least temporarily.

When you need to generate many new ideas.

In our book Great by Choice, Jim Collins and I found that the most innovative companies first generated lots of ideas and then killed off the bad ones and obsessed over only a few good ideas.

Bullets then cannonball

When you know your options, but are uncertain which to choose.

Knowledge project---optionally in the face of uncertainty until the information gathered decreases in quality, first loss of opportunity, or you discover critical information that outweighs and makes the decision obvious

The second tactic for focusing and obsessing, then, is to seal yourself off from those distractions.

The key is to devise these tactics ahead of time so that you’re prepared to resist temptations when they arise.

Many described making special arrangements that would let them work without interruption.

There are many ways to tie yourself to the mast. Do it ahead of time, so that when you sit at your desk feeling the urge to distract yourself, you can’t.

Many top performers in our study reported having bosses who gave them clear direction, set specific goals, and had few priorities.

He told this partner that he would be happy to help, but he couldn’t cover both the sales pitch and the merger project. Which should he prioritize?

Bring the boss onto the decision about priorities

“Can’t you do both?” the partner asked.

“Not if you want excellent work,” James replied.

Make clear to your boss that you’re not trying to slack off. You’re prioritizing because you want to dedicate all your effort to excelling in a few key areas.

Conversely, as a boss aware of the “do less, obsess more” practice for excellent work, help your employees prioritize their work and don’t pile on. Think about how to best leverage employee strengths, and only switch priorities if absolutely necessary. Be thoughtful.

The concept of “do less, then obsess” raises a critical question we haven’t addressed yet: What should you concentrate on?

In the next chapter, we will explore the issue of what to focus on.

The smart way to work is to first do less, then obsess.

In the spread-too-thin trap, people take on many tasks, but can’t allocate enough attention to each.

complexity trap, the energy required to manage the interrelationship between tasks leads people to waste time and execute poorly.

Wield the razor: Shave away unnecessary tasks, priorities, committees, steps, metrics, and procedures.

Remember: As few as you can, as many as you must.

Occam's razor

Tie yourself to the mast: Set clear rules ahead of time to fend off temptation and distraction.

Say “no” to your boss: Explain to your boss that adding more to your to-do list will hurt your performance.

saying “no” so that you can apply intense effort to excel in a few chosen areas.

“Why do we keep sending homework home when students aren’t doing it?” Green asked the teachers. The old model wasn’t working.

Asking this question? Might be time to redesign your approach. What have you got to lose?

The results soared.

The strategy was not the purpose. The purpose was to educate students and the mode wasn’t working anymore. So, they changed the strategy. Homework isn’t a core principle—it’s only a practice. Lecturing in person isn’t a core principle—only a practice. The principle is dissemination and understanding of knowledge. They changed the practice to meet their needs without giving up their core principle.

Green redesigned the work itself, changing the way teaching was done.

If you find yourself planning to work longer hours to get returns on declining results or broken processes, then it’s definitely time to move on, redesign, and work smarter.

If you want to perform at your best, you need to do what Greg Green and many others in our study did: break with convention and try new ways of working.

working longer hours enhances performance, but only to a point. If you work between 30 and 50 hours per week, adding more hours on the job lifts your performance. But once you’re working between 50 and 65 hours per week, the benefit of adding additional hours drops off.

If you’re already working 50 hours per week, resist the temptation to invest more hours at work. Instead, ask yourself: “Can I work smarter, rather than more?”

Redesign isn’t about working longer hours. It’s about changing how you work. Yet, not all redesigns generate better results.

So what distinguishes a great redesign from a not-so-great one?

That begs the question: what is value, exactly?

As our study suggested, we should evaluate the value of our work by measuring how much others benefit from it.

Many people never question whether their work produces value.

The advice “start with goals” when planning an effort, is wrong. We need to start with value, then proceed to goals. Ask yourself: what benefits do your various work activities produce, really?

One answer: poor metrics.

Another problem is our perverse tendency to equate volumes of activity with accomplishments.