Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork, and Start the Work That Matters.

I wish I would have had this resource 30 years ago when I was getting ready to graduate from college. I don't know how ready I would have been to actually apply what Michael Bungay Stanier leads people through in "Do More Great Work", but I do know that it would have been a process I would have turned to again and again. This isn't a book you just sit down and read in one day or a weekend. You need to plan to take it in chapters and really sit down and do the mapping exercises that are included. I wouldn't just call this a book or even a workbook. It would fit into the category of WORKBOOK(said in a voice similar to Animal on the Muppets). As a career coach, I'm constantly looking for the highest quality resources to recommend to my clients. This one will now be at the top of my list. I'll also encourage potential readers to see Michael's [...] website and the Great Work book website. There are three very nicely done Flash videos that are engaging to watch and worth sending along to the people you know. Michael also provides an e-mail course called Seven Questions and another e-mail based support series to go along with the Do More Great Work Book. All told this is an extraordinary package. One other encouraging word. I read this on Kindle. Of all the Kindle books I've read, this one has had the nicest, most useful design.

I have known Michael for over a decade and had the pleasure of working with him for several years. What I will say about this book is hopefully short and to the point, it is absolutely useful. I have seen and experienced the value his models and approach can have and continue to have. If you really take the time to work with this book you will find more value and usefulness than you might get with literally thousands of dollars worth of coaching. Invest the very small cost of the book, then invest the time, then pass it on to others.

This is the second book that I purchased from Michael. Don't be deceived by the notion that this book is about being more innovative, energized, and productive in the workplace. By work, Michael is talking about living a life most worth living. He is talking about bringing the same enthusiasm that you have for Alaskan crab legs and flirtatious conversations with a loved one to every life domain. I wonder where this book will appear in bookstores. Business book? Self-enhancement book? Psychology book? Do More Great Work transcends categories. I suspect that you are skeptical of these superlatives but I honestly do not take the time to write reviews unless an author inspired me. Michael does (again). He prods, provokes, and challenges you to answer questions about your life that can often be uncomfortable. He gives you a playground of exercises to uncover values, strengths, and situations governing your behavior, and how to navigate with them to effectively emerge as a mindful, passionate leader. I am purposely avoiding specific details about what is in the book because it is impossible to cover the broad terrain and I hesitate to emphasize small snippets out of context. There are dozens of questions and exercises that are useful on their own and even more powerfully together. None of these questions are silly, none of them are superfluous, and if you are receptive, this book has the potential to evoke meaningful change. Are you content with mediocracy or do you want to do something profound with your limited time and stamina in the only life you will ever be given? If you want the latter, get this book. I stake my reputation on the line. Todd Kashdan, Ph.D. Author of Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life

Looks can be deceiving. At first glance, Do More Great Work by Michael Bungay Stanier looks like yet another small, simple, beautifully-designed book. Oftentimes, books of this sort lack anything new or insightful. A few pages in, however, I realized this book was an exception. Do More Great Work gets to the heart of the work each of us should aspire to do -- work that makes us feel fully alive and brings us joy. The author, who was named Canadian Coach of the Year in 2006, walks the reader through a series of maps and questions that provide valuable career guidance. As a result of reading this book, I made a change to my business so that I would do more great work and devote less time to merely good work. That's the measure of a valuable book: it changes the reader in a positive way. I'm happy to report that Do More Great Work met that standard for me and, as such, I highly recommend it. Michael Lee Stallard, Author: Fired Up or Burned Out.

"Find Your Great Work" is structured around a series of "maps" that can help you bring more "great" work into your life. The "maps" in this book seem at first glance to be quite simplistic, almost gimmicky. However, if you can get past the fact that they're "written" on a napkin, they seem quite powerful. This isn't the kind of book that you read once and put on a shelf. While the author might disagree, I would recommend reading the book from cover-to-cover once, without responding to the questions associated with each map, to help immerse yourself in the author's thinking. I believe this would be helpful in either returning to the beginning of the book to work with each map sequentially or before working with those maps that seem to speak to you. This book has the potential to affect your thinking in subtle as well as profound ways. In fact, in writing these comments, I realized that today I said something in a meeting of my direct reports that came straight from "Find Your Great Work" without my even realizing it. I look forward to continuing to work with the contents of this book to bring more great work into my life.