Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

Get out of your own way at work

I just finished reading one of the best “coach in a book” type of books I’ve read in a very long time.  The book is Mark Goulston’s, “Get Out of Your Own Way at Work...And Help Others Do the Same: Conquer Self-Defeating Behavior on the Job.”

This book provides very clear guidance on 40 different problem areas that can limit your success at work, each covered in a separate chapter.  index_goyowaw The topics covered include

  • Being Competent but Out of Touch
  • Procrastinating
  • Being Afraid to Fire People
  • Quitting Too Soon
  • Not Forgiving
  • Expecting Your Boss To Appreciate You

and many more (you can see the entire table of contents which includes all the topics in Amazon’s preview of the book).

Chock full of goodness

Each section provides a clear description of how each of the self-defeating behaviors might manifest itself, some specifics about the “damage” the behavior can cause, great quotes, and many of the sections include stories from Goulston’s research to further illustrate the point.

The things I liked best were:

  • “Usable Insight” observations sprinkled into the text (example: “You have more control over trying or quitting than you do over succeeding or failing”).
  • The specific, usable “Action Steps” at the end of each of the 40 chapters that provide real (not idealistic or unrealistic) steps you can take to try to improve.

It’s like self-service coaching

I think anyone can benefit from this book.  When I read through all of the sections, I definitely recognized quite a few areas where I could improve and the advice in the book felt just like it was coming from a wise business coach.  Not bad for a book that costs around 10 bucks.

Go check out the topics in the table of contents.  If any of them sound familiar (and you want to improve in any of those areas), then pick up a copy of this book.

You can also find some good information and inspiration at Dr. Mark Goulston’s excellent blog.

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The Encore Effect

“The Encore Effect” is subtitled, “How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do.”EncoreEffectCover   A pretty tall order, eh?  Well, I must say that author Mark Sanborn has put together a very solid set of techniques that really can help you achieve noteworthy results in what you do.

The name comes from the notion that, if you deliver remarkable performance it’ll be like at the end of a great concert; others will applaud and call you back for more.

To achieve this effect, Sanborn offers a “formula” that centers around Passion, Discipline, and Action.  According to Sanborn, these three elements combine to drive the excellence that leave the crowd wanting more.  Each of these critical elements is covered in a separate section of the book.

Create the magic

“I simply set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.” – John Wesley

It’s one thing to have passion, but quite another to be able to direct that passion toward a goal.  In the section on Passion, Sanborn talk about a number of techniques you can use to amplify your passion but, more importantly, he follows that up with a lot of coaching on how you can increase your chances of success through Preparation, Practice, Performance (engaging your audience), Polish (paying attention to the details), and how to anticipate and respond to Pitfalls.

Each aspect is dealt with in a concise chapter with advice that feels “right on the mark” to me, based on my experience.

Share your magic

Once you’ve mastered the art of producing encore-worthy performances, Sanborn encourages you to inspire, coach, and encourage others to achieve their own remarkable performances.  He offers some useful advice on how to cultivate the pursuit of excellence in others and I enjoyed reading his counsel.

If you’re feeling like you’re stuck in a humdrum, lackluster world and want to add some “wow” to your performance, I suggest you check out “The Encore Effect.”  It’s short and easy to read, but beneath its simplicity there is a lot of advice you can really use to be more awesome.

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New Year, New Focus

Happy new year, everyone!  After an enjoyable break the week and a half or so, I’m jumping into the new year which, for me, means lots of reflecting and planning for the future.

I’ve read a couple of awesome books in the past couple of weeks and will be posting reviews here in the next week.  Meanwhile, if you’re prone to setting goals at this time of year, here are a few randomly selected resources to get your juices flowing:

  1. If you’ve written your resolutions but are concerned about keeping them, you owe it to yourself to read the (always insightful) Gretchen Rubin’s post on the magic formula for keeping your New Year’s resolutions.
  2. If becoming more physically fit is on your list, you can get a free (and equipment-free) regimen that is just excellent at the “hundred pushups” site.
  3. In the only post I wrote during my absence, I have an idea for how to make two lists to increase your productive focus in 2009.  It’s over on Joyful Jubilant Learning.
  4. Finally, you’ve procrastinated this long (or are just prolonging the experience) there are some “best practices” for setting resolutions at Persistence Unlimited that may help.

Here’s to an awesome 2009!

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Work the System

I’ve been reading “Work the System – The Simple Mechanics of Working Less and Making More," by Sam Carpenter.  Sam is now a successful entrepreneur, but was once a struggling entrepreneur.  WorkTheSystem In this book, he shares some of the war stories, revelations, and techniques he’s used to go from a frustrated, overworked business owner to one that works a lot less but still gets more done.

The book is interesting in its style, in that Sam takes you through his learning process and thoughts by reliving key moments in his business and personal life.  I can definitely identify with some of the painful experiences he relates – and his description of the business equivalent of the game “Whack-a-Mole.”

Along the way, he presents some common sense techniques that will help small business owners build foundational capabilities that will keep their businesses on the rails and enable a continuous improvement approach.  If you’re already successful in your business, you probably have some of this nailed already.  Even so, it’s interesting to “try on” Sam’s perspective of dealing with the business as a set of “black boxes” that can be managed and improved in a compartmentalized fashion.  Though this notion is presented as a profound shift in thinking, I believe it is an accepted, proven model (of course, that may be because I already see the world through a “systems thinking” lens).

This book will be useful for new entrepreneurs and business owners who feel they are stuck on the “work harder, work faster” treadmill and who feel like they just can’t get ahead in spite of a solid business idea.

Bonus:  There is a free Work The System quiz you can take after reading the book to ensure that you grok the critical concepts.

Additional resources to add more value

Beyond the book, I discovered a number of complementary – and very useful - blog posts on  on Sam Carpenter's section of the "Startup Nation" blog.  There are also some free teleseminar replays that will give you more information on Sam’s views of working the system.

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Reality Check – on the house

I just found out that Bill Baren will be interviewing Guy Kawasaki on Wednesday, December 10, at 12 pm PST (3 pm EST) to discuss Guy's new book "Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition."

I wrote about Bill’s Time Experts Teleseminar offering in the past, and still think it is pretty cool.  However, I’ve heard from folks who don’t want to pay for the Time Experts program, so this is a great, free alternative (either to soak up Guy’s thoughts or get a free test drive of the Time Experts offerings).

Guy has also offered the first chapter of his new book as a free download to all registrants.  You can sign up at  http://timeexpertstelesummit.com/guy.

If you’ve never heard Guy speak before, you should definitely check it out – he is awesome to listen to.

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