Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less

258 Pages·2009·3.01 MB·English

by  Sam Carpenter

O R
W K
the
SYSTEM
The Simple Mechanics of
Making More and Working Less
SAM CARPENTER
Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press
Austin, TX
www.greenleafbookgroup.com
Copyright ©2009 by Sam Carpenter
All rights reserved under all copyright conventions.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
written permission from the publisher.
Distributed by Greenleaf Book Group LLC
For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact
Greenleaf Book Group LLC at PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709, [phone].
Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group LLC
Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group LLC
Publisher’s Cataloging-In-Publication Data
(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)
Carpenter, Sam.
Work the system : the simple mechanics of making more and working less / Sam
Carpenter. -- 2nd ed.
p. ; cm.
Previous ed. published: Bend, Ore. : North Sister Publishing, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-1-929774-87-6
1. Organizational effectiveness. 2. Organizational change--Management. 3. Success
in business. I. Title.
HD58.9 .C377 2009
658.4/02 2008943859
ISBN: 978-1-929774-87-6
Part of the Tree Neutral™ program, which offsets the number of trees con-
sumed in the production and printing of this book by taking proactive steps,
such as planting trees in direct proportion to the number of trees used:
www.treeneutral.com
First edition published 2008
North Sister Publishing Inc., Bend, Oregon
Second edition published March 2009
Second printing of second edition July 2009
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
09 10 11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Second Edition
To Linda, of course

One should choose the simplest explanation,
the one requiring the fewest assumptions and principles.
—William of Ockham, fourteenth-century English philosopher

Contents
preface: It’s Just Mechanics ix
acknowledgments xv
introduction: The Simplest Solution 1
part one: The Mind-Set
1. Control Is a Good Thing 15
2. A System of Systems 26
3. The Attack of the Moles 32
4. Gun-to-the-Head Enlightenment 40
5. Execution and Transformation 58
6. Systems Revealed, Systems Managed 66
7. Getting It 79
part two: Critical Documentation
8. Swallowing the Horse Pill 89
9. We Are Project Engineers 103
10. Your Strategic Objective and General Operating Principles 114
11. Your Working Procedures 121
part three: Further Considerations
12. Good Enough 138
13. Errors of Omission 144
14. Quiet Courage 150
15. Point-of-Sale Thinking 154
16. Extraordinary Systems Operated by Great People 162
17. Consistency and Cold Coffee 169
18. Communication: Grease for the Wheels 178
19. Prime Time 184
20. The Traffic Circles of Pakistan 199
21. System Improvement as a Way of Life 203
appendixes
A. Ockham’s Razor and the TSR 208
B. Centratel’s Strategic Objective 215
C. Centratel’s 30 Principles 217
D. Centratel’s Procedure for Procedures 221
E. Centratel’s System for Communication 225
references 228
index 236
Preface
It’s Just Mechanics
I work the system, but not just one. I work all the systems in my control—
professional, financial, social, biological, and mechanical. You have your
own systems. Do you see them? Do you control them? It doesn’t matter
whether you are a CEO, employee, stay-at-home mom or dad, retiree, or
student. Your life is composed of systems that are yours to control—or not
control.
In the slang sense of the term, someone who “works the system” uses
a bureaucratic loophole as an excuse to break rules in order to secure per-
sonal gain. But winning the life game means following the rules, for if we
don’t, any win is a ruse. Be assured that you will find nothing deceitful or
unsavory in these pages. Nor does the Work the System methodology have
anything to do with esoteric theory, politics, or religion. It is about com-
mon sense and simple mechanics. I call it a workingman’s philosophy.
Life is serious business, and whether you know it or not—or whether
you like it or not—your personal systems are the threads of the fabric of
your life. Together, your personal systems add up to you. And if you are
like most people, you negotiate your days without seeing your systems as
the singular entities they are, some working well and some not so well.
In the complexity that is your life, what if you could distinctly see each
of these systems? What if you could reach in and pluck a not-so-perfect
system out of that complexity, make it perfect, and then reinsert it? What if
you could perform this process with every system that composes your life?
What if you could reengineer your life piece by piece to make it exactly
what you want it to be without having to count on luck, providence, blind
faith, or someone else’s largesse?