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Do More Great Work

Do More Great Work

Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters.
by Michael Bungay Stanier 2010 200 pages
3.83
1k+ ratings
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Key Takeaways

1. Identify Your Great Work: Understand Bad, Good, and Great Work

Great Work is what we all want more of. This is the work that is meaningful to you, that has an impact and makes a difference. It inspires, stretches, and provokes. Great Work is the work that matters.

Bad Work is pointless and draining, often manifesting as bureaucracy or outdated processes. Good Work is familiar, productive, and necessary, forming the bulk of most people's daily tasks. Great Work is meaningful, impactful, and personally fulfilling. It challenges you, aligns with your values, and contributes significantly to your organization and the world.

Understanding these distinctions helps you:

  • Identify areas where you're spending too much time on Bad Work
  • Recognize the importance of Good Work in maintaining stability
  • Seek opportunities to transform Good Work into Great Work
  • Actively pursue projects and tasks that qualify as Great Work

2. Tap into Your Peak Moments to Uncover Great Work Opportunities

Clues to what Great Work is for you are preserved—like insects in amber—in the peak moments of your past.

Reflect on past achievements to identify patterns and themes that indicate your Great Work potential. These peak moments are times when you felt most fulfilled, engaged, and impactful.

To uncover your Great Work opportunities:

  • Recall 3-4 peak moments from your work life
  • Include 1-2 peak moments from your personal life
  • Give each moment a title and write a brief description
  • Analyze the themes, skills, and circumstances common across these moments
  • Use these insights to guide your search for future Great Work projects

3. Define Your Best Self and Role Models to Guide Your Great Work

We're beginning to see the people we admire as a call to me to be my best, encouraging and pulling me forward to the same standard of whatever it is that they embody.

Identify your optimal traits and behaviors when you're at your best. This self-awareness helps you recognize and create situations conducive to Great Work.

Steps to define your best self and find inspiration:

  • Create a list of words describing yourself at your best
  • Pair each positive trait with its less-than-ideal counterpart
  • Choose 5-8 role models who embody qualities you admire
  • List 4-5 characteristics of each role model that inspire you
  • Look for patterns in these traits to guide your Great Work journey

4. Scan Your Environment for Great Work Possibilities

To get a sense of where there might be opportunities for Great Work, you need to find a place where you can stop, scan the landscape, and see what might be worth pursuing. You need to get to the lookout.

Broaden your perspective to identify potential Great Work opportunities in various aspects of your life and work. This holistic approach helps you spot possibilities you might otherwise miss.

Areas to explore for Great Work opportunities:

  • Personal life: hobbies, relationships, community involvement
  • Professional development: skills, knowledge, networking
  • Organizational challenges: inefficiencies, unmet needs, innovation gaps
  • Industry trends: emerging technologies, market shifts, societal changes
  • Global issues: sustainability, social justice, education

5. Address What's Broken to Find Great Work Projects

What's broken and needs to be fixed?

Identify pain points in your work and life to uncover potential Great Work projects. Solving problems that frustrate you or others can lead to meaningful and impactful work.

Strategies for finding Great Work through problem-solving:

  • List irritations and inefficiencies in your daily work
  • Identify broader issues in your team, department, or organization
  • Consider societal problems that align with your skills and passions
  • Evaluate which issues, if resolved, would have the most significant impact
  • Assess which problems you're most motivated to tackle

6. Balance Organizational Requirements with Personal Aspirations

The challenge is to find the best possible balance between these competing forces, so you are doing not only what is required and desired by your organization but also as much Great Work as you want.

Align your goals with your organization's needs to create opportunities for Great Work within your current role. This balance ensures you contribute meaningfully while fulfilling your professional obligations.

Strategies for balancing personal and organizational goals:

  • Map out your current work responsibilities and projects
  • Identify areas where your interests overlap with organizational priorities
  • Look for ways to infuse Great Work elements into existing tasks
  • Propose new projects that serve both personal and organizational objectives
  • Negotiate for more time and resources to pursue Great Work initiatives

7. Generate Creative Ideas to Expand Your Great Work Options

Expanding your range of options is the first part of the creativity rhythm, and your goal here is to go big and go wide. There will be a time when you narrow your choices—but not now.

Unleash your creativity to generate a wide range of possibilities for your Great Work project. This divergent thinking phase helps you explore unconventional ideas and innovative approaches.

Techniques for creative idea generation:

  • Use provocative questions to stimulate new thoughts
  • Set a time limit and idea quota to push beyond obvious solutions
  • Embrace wild, improbable, or even "impossible" ideas
  • Build on existing ideas to create new variations
  • Seek inspiration from unrelated fields or industries
  • Use visual tools like mind maps or sketches to explore connections

8. Choose Your Great Work Project with Confidence

The purpose of slowing down there is to speed up here.

Make an informed decision about which Great Work project to pursue by evaluating your options against key criteria. This structured approach helps you choose a project that aligns with your goals and has the potential for significant impact.

Steps to select your Great Work project:

  1. List 3-5 potential Great Work projects
  2. Develop 3-5 criteria for evaluating these options (e.g., impact, ease of implementation, personal passion)
  3. Rate each option against your criteria
  4. Consider the highest-scoring options and your gut feeling
  5. Commit to a project that balances potential impact with feasibility

9. Commit to Action and Define Your Next Steps

You can't do a project. You can only do the next step.

Break down your Great Work project into manageable steps to overcome inertia and make steady progress. This approach helps you maintain momentum and avoid feeling overwhelmed by the project's scope.

Key elements of an effective action plan:

  • Clearly define your next action (be specific and use action verbs)
  • Set a deadline for completing this action
  • Identify the very first step you need to take
  • Establish accountability by sharing your plan with a supportive person
  • Schedule regular check-ins to review progress and adjust your plan

10. Build a Support Network to Sustain Your Great Work Journey

Great Work inspires you, enthralls you, pulls you forward—it's deeply personal. And yet almost certainly, you can't do it by yourself.

Cultivate relationships that provide emotional, technical, and strategic support for your Great Work endeavors. A strong support network can help you overcome obstacles, stay motivated, and expand your capabilities.

Types of support to seek:

  • Emotional support: Friends and family who offer encouragement and belief in your potential
  • Technical support: Colleagues or experts who can provide specific skills or knowledge
  • Strategic support: Mentors or influencers who can offer guidance and open doors

Strategies for building your support network:

  • Identify gaps in your current network
  • Attend industry events or join professional associations
  • Offer help to others before asking for support
  • Be clear about the specific type of support you need
  • Express gratitude and reciprocate when others assist you

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FAQ

What's "Do More Great Work" about?

  • Focus on Meaningful Work: "Do More Great Work" by Michael Bungay Stanier is about identifying and focusing on work that is meaningful and impactful, rather than just busywork.
  • Framework for Change: The book provides a framework to help individuals transition from doing good work to great work by using practical tools and exercises.
  • Personal and Professional Growth: It emphasizes personal and professional growth by aligning one's work with their values and aspirations.
  • Practical Tools: The book includes 15 maps or exercises designed to help readers identify what matters most to them and how to achieve it.

Why should I read "Do More Great Work"?

  • Identify Great Work: It helps you identify what constitutes great work for you personally, which can lead to greater job satisfaction and fulfillment.
  • Actionable Steps: The book provides actionable steps and exercises to help you transition from busywork to work that truly matters.
  • Expert Insights: Contributions from thought leaders like Seth Godin and Leo Babauta offer additional perspectives on doing great work.
  • Self-Discovery: It encourages self-discovery and helps you align your work with your core values and strengths.

What are the key takeaways of "Do More Great Work"?

  • Three Types of Work: The book categorizes work into Bad Work, Good Work, and Great Work, urging readers to focus on the latter.
  • Maps for Guidance: It offers 15 maps or exercises to guide readers in identifying and doing more great work.
  • Role of Courage: Courage is essential for stepping out of comfort zones and taking on great work projects.
  • Support Systems: Building a support system is crucial for sustaining great work efforts.

How does Michael Bungay Stanier define "Great Work"?

  • Meaningful and Impactful: Great Work is defined as work that is meaningful to you and has a significant impact.
  • Engaging and Stretching: It is work that engages you, stretches your abilities, and aligns with your values.
  • Balance of Comfort and Discomfort: Great Work provides a sense of comfort through its meaningfulness but also involves discomfort due to its challenges.
  • Organizational Value: For organizations, Great Work drives innovation and strategic difference.

What are the "15 Maps" in "Do More Great Work"?

  • Guidance Tools: The 15 maps are exercises designed to help you identify and do more great work.
  • Structured Approach: They provide a structured approach to self-discovery and action planning.
  • Diverse Focus Areas: Each map focuses on different aspects, such as identifying peak moments, understanding your best self, and finding role models.
  • Practical Application: The maps are practical and can be revisited multiple times for ongoing guidance.

How can I identify my "Great Work" according to the book?

  • Peak Moments: Reflect on past peak moments where you felt most engaged and fulfilled.
  • Role Models: Identify role models and the qualities you admire in them to understand what you aspire to.
  • Self-Assessment: Use the maps to assess your current work mix and identify areas for improvement.
  • Opportunities and Challenges: Look for opportunities and challenges in your current environment that align with your definition of great work.

What is the "This, Not That" exercise in the book?

  • Behavioral Insight: This exercise helps you identify what you're like at your best and what you're like when you're not at your best.
  • Metaphorical Comparison: It uses metaphorical comparisons to articulate your best and less-than-best states.
  • Self-Reflection: Encourages self-reflection to understand your strengths and areas for growth.
  • Practical Application: Helps you focus on behaviors that align with doing more great work.

What role do "Role Models" play in "Do More Great Work"?

  • Inspiration Source: Role models serve as a source of inspiration and guidance for identifying great work.
  • Qualities and Characteristics: The book encourages identifying the qualities and characteristics you admire in your role models.
  • Personal Alignment: Helps you align your work with the values and traits you aspire to embody.
  • Practical Exercise: The book includes an exercise to list role models and the attributes you wish to emulate.

How does the book suggest handling "Bad Work"?

  • Identify and Eliminate: The book suggests identifying bad work and finding ways to eliminate or minimize it.
  • Focus on Value: Encourages focusing on work that adds value and aligns with your goals.
  • Efficiency and Delegation: Recommends delegating or finding more efficient ways to handle necessary but uninspiring tasks.
  • Mindset Shift: Promotes a mindset shift from tolerating bad work to actively seeking great work opportunities.

What are some of the best quotes from "Do More Great Work" and what do they mean?

  • "You can’t do a project. You can only do the next step." - Emphasizes the importance of breaking down projects into actionable steps.
  • "Great Work is what we all want more of." - Highlights the universal desire for work that is meaningful and fulfilling.
  • "Stop making everyone happy." - Encourages focusing on what truly matters rather than trying to please everyone.
  • "Ask for help." - Stresses the importance of seeking support and collaboration in doing great work.

How does "Do More Great Work" address the concept of "Courage"?

  • Essential for Great Work: Courage is essential for stepping out of comfort zones and taking on great work projects.
  • Facing Challenges: Encourages facing challenges head-on and not shying away from difficult tasks.
  • Incremental Steps: Suggests taking incremental steps to build courage and confidence over time.
  • Support Systems: Recommends building a support system to bolster courage and sustain efforts.

What additional resources does "Do More Great Work" offer?

  • Online Tools: The book offers online resources, including downloadable map templates and an eCourse.
  • Interviews and Insights: Features interviews with thought leaders for additional insights and inspiration.
  • Great Work Movie: Provides access to the Great Work Movie for visual inspiration.
  • Further Reading: Includes a list of recommended books and resources for deepening your understanding of great work.

Review Summary

3.83 out of 5
Average of 1k+ ratings from Goodreads and Amazon.

Do More Great Work receives mixed reviews, with an average rating of 3.84/5. Many readers find the book's exercises and "maps" helpful for self-reflection and career development. Some praise its practical approach and insights, while others consider it basic or repetitive. Critics note that full engagement with the exercises is necessary to benefit from the book. Positive reviewers appreciate its focus on identifying and pursuing meaningful work, while negative reviews cite a lack of originality or depth. Overall, the book seems most valuable for those seeking guided self-exploration in their professional lives.

Your rating:
4.4
28 ratings

About the Author

Michael Bungay Stanier is a prolific author and coach, best known for his bestselling book "The Coaching Habit," which has sold nearly a million copies. As the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year, he brings his expertise to his writing and coaching practice. Stanier hosts the podcast "2 Pages with MBS," featuring notable guests reading and discussing their favorite book passages. His work focuses on helping individuals and professionals improve their performance and find more meaning in their work. Stanier's approach combines practical exercises, thought-provoking questions, and insights from various experts to guide readers towards personal and professional growth.

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