Sital Ruparelia

Do you often find yourself doing ‘busy work’ that doesn’t really interest you? Work that isn’t exciting, challenging or indeed satisfying?

If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions, you’ll enjoy the following interview with Michael Bungay Stanier, the founder and director of Box Of Crayons. Box of Crayons is a company that works with organisations and teams around the world to help them do less Good Work and more Great Work.

They’ve worked across a range of sectors including Consumer Goods (Campbell’s, Mars, Nestle), Pharmaceuticals (AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer), and Professional Service Firms (Gartner Inc, PricewaterhouseCoopers).

Michael has this week released he’s new book, ‘Find Your Great Work’ and recently took some time out to speak with me about how all of us can spend more time doing Great Work and less time doing Good Work.
 
Sital: Michael, many of our readers won’t be familiar with you – can you just give us a quick overview of who you are and what you do?

Michael: Sure thing … here are some bits and pieces about me that are mainly true. Born in Australia and have lived and worked in the UK, the US and Canada. I almost was a lawyer, but two things intervened: leaving law school being sued by one of my lecturers and winning a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University and falling in love with a Canadian, now my wife.

I was pretty much the first employee of what is now the world’s largest independent innovation company, and spent those first years ‘not’ being indoctrinated into the world of corporations, something I’m grateful for. My company is called Box of Crayons, and we help companies do less Good Work and more Great Work.

We do it through training (our flagship product is called Coaching for Great Work), books (Find Your Great Work is hot off the press), coaching, speaking, facilitating…

Sital: You mention the new book, Find Your Great Work. What is the central theme behind the book?

Michael: Well, you know how in your organisation you do some work that’s meaningful, has an impact and is useful … and then there’s the rest of the stuff you do?

And wouldn’t it be cool – for you AND for your organisation – if you did more of the first sort of work and less of the other?   Well, that’s what this book will help you do.

Sital: What inspired you to write it?

Michael: The big picture, it’s one of those “inspiration is when your past suddenly makes sense” moments – the ideas of this book are the culmination of 15 years’ thinking and working in this area.

In the immediate moment, I was spending summer in August in the cottage where Einstein used to have his holidays. And I was a little bored. And I woke up one day with the idea for this book.

Sital: In the book, you talk about Bad work, Good Work and Great Work. Can you explain what these are and how they relate to most people?

Michael: Sure thing. Here’s the one-sentence-or-less definitions:

Bad Work: waste of time, money and life, soul-sucking, brain-numbing. Known as bureaucracy. Paperwork, pointless meetings, and so on.

Good Work: useful, productive, comfortable, familiar. Organisations are set up to deliver Good Work. Nothing wrong with it – but it’s a comfortable rut.

Great Work: challenging, meaningful, exciting, rewarding, risky. We both want it … and are made nervous by it, as it’s a step out into the unknown.

Sital: So in simple terms, if our readers wanted to start doing more Great Work, what are your top 3 tips to get started?

Michael:

1. Get clear on what Great Work might be for you, now.
2. Learn to say No to Good Work
3. Ask for help.

Or alternatively, watch the short (8 minute) Great Work Movie www.GreatWorkMovie.com which talks about the 5 truths of Great Work.

Sital: Some our readers will have lost their jobs in recent months and the focus is on doing any kind of work rather than ‘Great Work’. What do you say to that?

Michael: I’d say that’s the right thing to do. There’s no set perfect mix for Good and Great Work. It’s what’s right for you at the moment. It could be this is a time when the focus is on stabilizing Good Work and not on carving out more Great Work

Sital: Some of our readers will be looking to make career changes into new areas or make shifts into self-employment. Within the context of doing Great Work, have you any words of advice for them as they make their transition?

Michael: Get to the emotional truth of what inspires you and matters to you, rather than be blinded only by what you’ve done in the past. Just because, say, you’re a lawyer doesn’t mean the next thing can only be plus/minus 5% something to do with law.

There’s an exercise in Find Your Great Work that helps with that, by telling stories about “peak moments” from your past and seeing what wisdom lies in those stories.

Sital: What about the person that is working in an organisation going through huge change and restructuring – typically with a leaner workforce. How can s/he do more Great Work?

Michael: Great Work is about doing the work that matters. It’s not an indulgence and about feeling good, it’s about focus and eliminating the work that matters less. For any individual, they’re looking to get clear on what work matters to them and what work matters to the organisation – and then make the appropriate choices about what to say Yes and No to.

Sital: How can leaders and managers use the idea of Great Work to engage and inspire their teams during these challenging times?

Michael: I think the previous answer covers most of that. What’s the work that matters? What’s the work that makes a difference? What do we have to say ‘No’ to so we can say ‘Yes’ to that?

Sital: Out of interest, what’s your own Great Work..?!

Michael: This year – it’s about increasing the impact I’m having in the world through the FYGW book and our Coaching for Great Work programme.

Sital: Michael, thanks for taking the time to speak with me, I really appreciate it. Where can we learn more about the book and other find other useful resources?

Michael: Sital, it was a pleasure to speak to you and your readers. The book – with a ton of free resources for you whether you take the book or not – is at www.FindYourGreatWork.com

You can also check out the Great Work Movie at www.GreatWorkMovie.com, and if you’d like more information on our Coaching for Great Work programme (practical coaching skills that stick for managers) then go to www.BoxOfCrayons.biz
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Find Your Great Work came out on 24th April and is now available to purchase. Michael kindly sent me a copy few weeks ago; it’s a great little book which I’m sure you’ll treasure. You can purchase your own copy by clicking on the following link where you can also download a number of free resources related to the book: www.FindYourGreatWork.com

By the way, Michael has also kindly offered one of he’s e-books as a free gift to those of you that attend our one day workshop next month on how to reinvent yourself and change careers. For further details, click here