Focus Like a Laser Beam: 10 Ways to Do What Matters Most

I'll admit, there are some books I reread simply because I didn't get them the first time around. With "Focus...", I reread it because I wanted to internalize the great tips. The book is peppered with Key Points in blockquote style, real world examples, worksheets and each chapter begins with a summary. This is an easy read, but also an important one. If you're in project management or in charge of making your manufacturing line work lean, this book is a must for your library

Lisa Haneberg's mantra in this book is that when managers do what matters most, rather than trying to do it all, they improve energy and engagement in workplaces. I couldn't agree more. Haneberg offers ten techniques that enable managers to Focus Like A Laser Beam. The techniques are aimed at exciting and energizing their people, getting people talking about what truly matters, and letting go of activities that distract and divert energy. Practice any one of those ten techniques and you will become a better manager. Practice them all and you might become a great one.

If you want goal-setting glitz and glamour, watch an infomercial. If you want a commonsense management refresher course that reorders your thoughts and shows you a step-by-step path leading to breakthrough successes, read, "Focus Like a Laser Beam." This is one of those books that sneaks-up on you. You read a section, pause, nod knowingly, and keep reading. Then, throughout the following days and weeks the book's messages keep bubbling to the surface as your context and focus changes. This book is all about establishing clear visions and focused actions that produce results. Of the book's "10 Ways to Do What Matters Most," my favorite is, "Stop Multitasking, Start Chunking." I always prided myself on my ability to multitask and keep dozens of projects moving at the same time. After reflecting on this section of the book, I stopped and focused on each project. I realized I had created a great deal of commotion, with very little forward movement. By carving out "chunks" of time to focus and respond to each project, I immediately experienced a series of small breakthrough accomplishments. Sure, in hindsight it was commonsense, but without having read "Focus" and learning to dedicate chunks of time to important tasks, I would probably never finished this review.

There are, I believe, three basic categories of management/self-help books: those that rehash old ideas with a few new examples (the vast majority), those that produce entirely fresh and original thinking (sadly few), and those that save you time and effort by synthesizing the best of current ideas on a topic of interest. This book falls firmly into the third category. Lisa Haneberg has done a great job of surveying a wide range of suggestions about how to improve results by better focus, then presenting the best of them in a lively, intelligent, and entertaining way. Some of the ideas are hers, some come from other people, but all are useful. And yes, there are some well-known ideas in amongst the fresher ones, as you would expect. This is a topic many people have pondered over the years. I don't imagine the author thought of this book as either a work of academic argument or an entirely fresh viewpoint on a topic no one has considered before. If that's what you expect, you won't find it here. But what you will find is an extremely useful way to get the best available approaches to the topic in one place, with the author doing all the heavy lifting of sorting out the useful from the merely conventional. If you're looking for a simple, easy-to-read, yet thorough survey of the current state of thought on how to make sure your effort is going into what matters most, this is the book for you. It's well written, well-presented, and the style is lively and engaging. Recommended, especially for busy people who need to get to the heart of the matter quickly and without extraneous matter.

Nine months ago I was hired to help turnaround a once successful business. From day one I realized that this was a company without focus. It's one thing to define a problem, another to find a solution. Haneberg's book was a shot in the arm. Just one concept -- "Stop Multitasking" -- would have been a major breakthrough for my team. And, personally, the idea of doing "One Great Thing" has completely revitalized my approach to a huge job. This book immediately rose to the rank of three or four "must read" titles in my business library. In the couple of months since I first read it (and I've re-read it a couple of times) our department has moved far away from the reactive mode that drove decisions -- we're nailing deadlines, we're closing more sales, we're thinking more strategically across the board. In a business and social environment that throws more at us day-by-day, hour-by-hour, this book is even more important than it would have been just a few years ago. We're all doing more with less -- and this is a book that has helped me see order amid the chaos of conflicting priorities. If it's true, as Woody Allen says, that 98% of success is showing up, then the other 2% is knowing how to keep your eye on the ball once you get there. This is the manual for getting your business -- and your life -- where you want it to be.