Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less PDF
Preview Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less
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, (512) 891-6100. 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?
The list of books you might like
