Work the System

I personally have experienced situations where you are overwhelmed with work, are aware of the steps that could be performed to improve your efficiency but are "too busy" to make the improvements to relieve your burden. Appeals to superiors to be allowed to make the effort are generally met with, "after we complete this phase", but unfortunately another similar phase often follows. In many cases the constant inefficiencies lead to a total system failure. Carpenter nearly experienced a total failure in his company, a telephone service provider called Centratel. After acquiring the struggling company, he spent years solving crisis after crisis, working 100+ hour weeks and yet many weeks barely managed to meet payroll. Finally, necessity being so often the mother of invention, Carpenter reached the level of crisis where he had to make dramatic changes or see the company die. His solution was to look at Centratel as a system with choke points, feedback mechanisms and points of dramatic improvement. After taking the time to document operations and procedures, Centratel experienced dramatic improvement in quality and quantity of service. The new employee management procedures led to an improvement in the quality of new hires, greater retention of employees and an increase in morale. All of this translated into increased revenue and profits as well as a sharp decrease in the length of his workweek. As has been documented so many times, reducing the number of work hours increased the productivity per week as the increase in quality more than compensated. Giving all due respect to Carpenter and his achievements at Centratel, his experiences are not new to the overall understanding of management science. The classic example of this is the British experience in World War II, where after the outbreak of the war factory workers patriotically volunteered to work long hours. After the brief initial increase in productivity, there was a dramatic drop and the solution was to mandate a limit in the number of hours in the workweek. The lowered length of the workweek brought productivity back up. Nevertheless, the advice in this book is sound, for the simple reason that it is rarely possible to improve productivity until you understand what it is that you are doing. This is accomplished by fully documenting all operations; the act of doing it forces you to understand them, the first step in the repair process. Considering what you do a set of systems is a workable perspective, just not the only viable one.

Sam Carpenter has brought all the main principles that will lead to success in your work and life together in one book. Some books will change your mind this book will change your life if you apply what it teaches. The author shows that our entire world operates based on systems, from nature to the human body to successful businesses 99.9% of things go right when the system works. The problem is when you or a business are not on a system you spend your time running around putting out "fires" and "whacking moles" instead of solving the root of the problem."... orderliness and attention to detail are the roots of peace". "...disorder--always leads to desperation". The problems you encounter are really caused by system failure. Your job is to create systems that cause you to get the results you desire in life and at work. If you are a manager or business owner these systems must be documented on paper and be a working and changing tool that all employees agree on. When problems arise you determine what system failed and correct it. You should spend the majority of your time examining and tweaking systems to perfection, this is the best use of your time. Surprisingly,..."outright mistakes and random errors account for only a small percentage of total error. Most problems stem from nonexistent system management and show themselves as errors of omission". Sam Carpenter will show you how to create a document that expresses your purpose, and then create principles and systems that lead to the accomplishment of that purpose. The book is absolutely packed with excellent life and business insights that will take you to the next level in your life, career, or business if you follow them. I have had a great twenty year career in business management and wish I would have had this book when I started. I was always successful when I put systems in place that operate with or with out me but was unsuccessful trying to just make things happen by my mere presence and experience. The beauty is that the system principles also work for losing weight, relationships, and for me stock trading and investing. Five stars for this book, it should sit on your shelf right next to the other books that have changed your life.

1. What is a strategic objective? Strategic objective is the goal of the organization as describe by the strategic statement. A strategic statement includes a brief narrative of what the company does, where things are going, and how management and staff will get there. The Strategic objective needs to be limited to one page. 2. General operations principles are guidelines for making decisions. Operating principles are sound, simple to understand, wide spread, principles that govern what we do. The principles are the constant in life and business. The GOP keeps management and staff focused in the right direction. 3. A working procedure document is a guideline for executing the procedure you are describing. Working procedures need to be tested in the real world. Start by analyzing a system and documenting it, find the cause of recurring problem, devise a system to improve or fix the problem, then create a prototype "Working Procedure". A system improvement requires a Working Procedure. Reoccurring problems are the result of undocumented and uncontrolled processes. The mechanical aspects of the process are analyzed and streamlined. Overtime incremental best results end up being the big best result for the primary system. More process are automated and delegated. The Working Procedure is inflexible and too be followed exactly, however, if a change is required, the document changes rapidly. The Working Procedure document needs to be in simple 1-2-3 instructions, so that anyone can follow it, useful. As more Working Procedures are being created, more delegation is likely to occur. Document methodology works. 4. Strategic object, General Operations, and Working Procedure documentation will return a 100 fold. 5. By systematizing process, quality will improve and objectives achieved. Large companies that are working their system are successful and companies without sensible protocols and structure are struggling. 6. The success of a leader is keeping the wheels of the mechanism turning at full speed with efficiency. 7. Don't delay action, if it can be done immediately. Ask yourself, "how can we create the process now?" Do, Delegate, or discard. Do it now! 8. Slow down and set goals and define strategies. 9. When one compromises a habit, the habit becomes weaker 10. Creative ideas are to valuable to lose 11. Humans are good at completing a primary task and not necessary good at multitasking. 12. To grasp the system-improvement perspective, it is useful to create a personal system analogy. The analog must be personably believable. The system analogy creates the perspective of real systems being constantly maintained and receiving regular attention when things go wrong, this is a mechanical reality. 13. Companies attract and keep talented people by the work situation offered.

What a refreshing change. A business book written by a business-owner. A real world practitioner. Not an ivory tower, "B School" theorist looking to test an idea or attract consulting clients. I run my own business, employ 25 people and deliver business and marketing consulting services to insurance agency principals. I appreciate the challenges of getting a growing business to run on systems, both for myself and my clients. Last year, I bought 600 of copies of this book and sent them as a gift to my best clients. I'm still running into clients at seminars and workshops throughout the country who are thanking me for the positive impact this book had on their lives. Any serious entrepreneur who values their time and wants to get their business to the next level should put this book on their "read now" list. Everyone familiar with Michael Gerber's E Myth will appreciate how this book takes the same premises and delivers a practical Action Plan that works. Sam's story confirms the truth of his message and provides both inspiration and a useful road map throughout the book.