Great at Work: The Hidden Habits of Top Performers

by Morten T. Hansen

The seven hypotheses form a “work-smarter” theory of work. To work smart means to maximize the value of work by selecting a few activities and applying intense targeted effort. First, people who work smarter select a few activities that produce high value: They redesign work (hypothesis 2), do less and then obsess (hypothesis 1), and also choose a few collaborations and reject others (hypothesis 7). Second, people who work smart apply intense, targeted effort toward those activities. They create tremendous motivation by tapping into their passion and purpose (hypothesis 4), which is a more effective way to gain motivation than to rely on some outside force like pay. They then make their work productive by improving it through high-quality learning loops (hypothesis 3), intense but effective team meetings (hypothesis 6), well-executed collaborations (hypothesis 7), targeted channeling of efforts (the obsess part of hypothesis 1), work redesigns that improve efficiency and quality (hypothesis 2), and inspirational and persuasive acts that lead others to support the work (hypothesis 5).