How to Work the Competition Into the Ground

I found this book back in 1989, and have used it to great benefit. I wish I could find other works that have a similar approach and theme. If you find one, please let me know, [email protected]. This is truly an excellent book on helping personal productivity and happiness!

This is one of Molloy's first books. Its unedited style is great if you like to get to the heart of the matter: he tells it like it is. The techniques are great, but to me his best insights come in the single chapter on creative people. He surveyed people in non-artistic fields whose jobs are to create and who had succeeded at it by some objective measure: recognition in the field, patents, etc. He also interviewed their spouses and bosses. The habits and thought patterns of creative people differed significantly from those of the rest of the population. My arms ached from retrieving my jaw from the floor as he described - and reasonably explained - one personal characteristic of mine (I'm an academic researcher) after another. He talks about how some of the same characteristics that make someone creative separate him or her from societal norms. He also presents a set of principles that lead to creativity. He claims that many of these can be learned, and also states that many companies preferentially recruit such people. This book has changed my life and I wish I could get a copy of it rather than permanently borrowing my sister-in-law's!

This is an excellent guide to very practical methods of improving one's work behaviors. Charts are included to teach one how to exactly monitor on-task and off-task behavior, how to find the things that distract one from concentrating and working, etc. This is a one-of-a-kind book, but if one is interested in improving one's ability to work in a concentrated manner, this is excellent and well worth having.