Great at Work: The Hidden Habits of Top Performers

Great at Work: The Hidden Habits of Top Performers

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The Wall Street Journal bestseller—a Financial Times Business Book of the Month and named by The Washington Post as “One of the 11 Leadership Books to Read in 2018”—is “a refreshingly data-based, clearheaded guide” (Publishers Weekly) to individual performance, based on a groundbreaking study.
Why do some people perform better at work than others? This deceptively simple question continues to confound professionals in all sectors of the workforce. Now, after a unique, five-year study of more than 5,000 managers and employees, Morten Hansen reveals the answers in his “Seven Work Smarter Practices” that can be applied by anyone looking to maximize their time and performance.
Each of Hansen’s seven practices is highlighted by inspiring stories from individuals in his comprehensive study. You’ll meet a high school principal who engineered a dramatic turnaround of his failing high school; a rural Indian farmer determined to establish a better way of life for women in his village; and a sushi chef, whose simple preparation has led to his unassuming restaurant being awarded the maximum of three Michelin stars. Hansen also explains how the way Alfred Hitchcock filmed Psycho and the 1911 race to become the first explorer to reach the South Pole both illustrate the use of his seven practices.
Each chapter “is intended to inspire people to be better workers…and improve their own work performance” (Booklist) with questions and key insights to allow you to assess your own performance and figure out your work strengths, as well as your weaknesses. Once you understand your individual style, there are mini-quizzes, questionnaires, and clear tips to assist you focus on a strategy to become a more productive worker. Extensive, accessible, and friendly, Great at Work will help us “reengineer our work lives, reduce burnout, and improve performance and job satisfaction” (Psychology Today).
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; Illustrated edition (Sept. 3 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1476765820
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1476765822
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 272 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 2.6 x 13.9 x 21.3 cm
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8 reviews for Great at Work: The Hidden Habits of Top Performers

  1. Luki D –

    Great insights and strategies with supporting research and tangible tactics
    Lots of great strategies and insights, many of which go against conventional wisdom or provide an important nuance to be more effective.I’ll definitely be implementing all in my work and for my workplace.

  2. icemanbob –

    Fantastic addition to the management library
    I’m not much of a reader but I was having trouble with my career thinking and being too busy all the time without getting much done. I was recommended many of the typical consulting books (some of which are indeed good), but most I felt were superficial. Then someone mentioned Greg McKeown’s ‘essentialism’ which I read and absolutely loved.On a podcast, Greg mentioned this book recently and especially emphasized the “do less, then obsess” principle from ‘Great at Work’ which I also love.In short, this book has been an equal, to me, in terms of potential for self-improvement. The way I see it, perhaps selfishly, is that I need to ‘fix’ myself before I can really improve all of my work practises. This books treatment – through a scientific and rigorous manner – of self-improvement is a refreshingly new take on many old paradigms that are misdirected or simply not true.As a consultant myself, I’m certain that following these principles will get me that much farther.To close, one of my favourite chapters deals with passion. I’ve generally lacked passion for anything for years and it has been a major stumbling block for me in my career. I was skeptical of this chapter, but as I progressed through everything there really holds true for me. Including the fact that I don’t need to be passionate about a topic or a particular field in order to be passionate about what I do. For example I can be passionate about making other’s lives easier and that’s something you can do in any job.I’d highly recommend this book to any working professional, but at the same time I want to keep it a secret otherwise I feel like the bar might go up and I’ll be that much farther behind!5 stars

  3. Robert Morris –

    How and why “seven practices upend conventional thinking about how you should work”
    In this his latest and most valuable book, Morten Hansen shares what he and his colleagues learned from a five year research study whose primary purpose was to determine how to produce great work. (I highly recommend checking out the appendix — Pages 215-247) — in which there is a complete explanation of what was done and how it was done.) According to Hansen, “In the end, we discovered that ‘work smart’ practices seemed to explain a substantial portion of performance.”The results were not what the Hansen team expected. “These seven practices upend conventional thinking about how you should work.” He devotes a separate chapter to each work-smart practice, noting that — together –they complement the seven habits that Stephen Covey has previously associated with peak performers.”To test our framework of the seven work-smart practices, my team and I modified our survey and administered it to 5,000 managers and employees across a wide range of jobs and industries in corporate America…We ran our 5,000-person data set through a rigorous statistical method called regression analysis.”The specific work-smart practices are best revealed within this book’s narrative, in context, and each is worthy of rigorous consideration because the global marketplace today is more volatile, more uncertain, more complex, and more ambiguous than at any prior time that I remember. Surely the need for top performers who do less, work better, and achieve more is greater now than at any prior time that anyone can recall.Years ago, in Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries, Peter Sims explains that his book’s proposition is based on an experimental approach that involves a lot of little bets and certain creative methods to identify possibilities and build up to great outcomes eventually, after frequent failures. Actually, experimental innovation has no failures; rather, there are initiatives that have not as yet succeeded, each of which is a precious learning opportunity. “At the core of this experimental approach, little bets are concrete actions taken to discover, test, and develop ideas that are achievable and affordable.”I was reminded of those remarks when I came upon this passage in Morten Hansen’s Epilogue: “Our discussion of small steps returns us to a major theme in this book: the potential we all have to become not just good at work, but great…That means that anyone can become a top performer — you don’t have to work crazy hours, be a genius, or be unusually lucky. You can become much better over time at working smart. Get started with small steps and keep at it, and some day you can win theIr gold medal in your line of work — and have a great life, too.”These are among the passages of greatest interest to me:o Five Ways to Create Value (Page 55)o Basic Steps in a Learning Loop (70-73)o What Hurdles at Work Prevent You from Looping? (85)o The Purpose Pyramid (105-106)o Make Others Upset…and Excited (123-124)o Seek Diversity, Not Just Talent (149-150)o Evaluating Collaboration Opportunities, Large and Small (176-178)o How Do You Prevent Burning Out? (199-201)Reminder: Be sure to check out the Research Appendix (215-247)This book can be of incalculable value to supervisors as well as to direct reports entrusted to their care. I think it is also a “must read” for others who are engaged in collaborative initiatives, especially when the objective is to achieve breakthrough results. Finally, as Morten Hansen suggests, the material can help to accelerate personal growth as well as professional development.In this brief commentary, I have indicated why I think so highly of Morten Hansen’s latest book. Having read it and then re-read it twice, I believe it is his most valuable book thus far, one that will have wider and deeper impact than any of his previous works.That said, if you share my high regard for Great at Work, I also strongly recommend an earlier work of his, Collaboration: How Leaders Avoid the Traps, Build Common Ground, and Reap Big Results (2009), as well as Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck — Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (2011), a “classic” he co-authored with Jim Collins.

  4. David –

    Digestible, actionable and relatable. Great read based on research and practical examples, the author does a terrific job of building a tangible action plan and insight into improvement

  5. Adolfo Alvarez L. –

    Un excelente libro que te permite identificar cómo enfocarte en lo que realmente es importante. Los recomiendo ampliamente sobre todo para aquellos ejecutivos que quieren optimizar su desempeño y llevar un paso adelante sus carreras

  6. Fabio –

    I temi trattati sono importanti, ovviamente serve un buon livello di Inglese tecnico, non solo commerciale o turistico.Libro adatto per chi voglia pensare in maniera diversa a come modificare il proprio modus operandi all’interno dell’Azienda o dell’Azienda stessa.Tutto si basa sulla costanza della messa in atto dei consigli dati.Consigliato.

  7. Natalie Remsen –

    Morten Hansen’s educational and compelling new book, “Great at Work,” provides readers with a new perspective on “great performance” in the workplace. The attractiveness of this book is that it presented an evidence-based, comprehensive understanding. In creating the survey discussed in this book, Morten considered the findings of over 200 published academic studies relating to working smarter. Throughout the book, Morten provides results from a regression analysis performance study of 5,000 people. The 5,000 people represented 15 industry sectors and 22 job functions with a balanced ratio of gender, age and education level. The results are presented within three main parts – mastering your own work, mastering working with others and mastering work-life balance.Morten had a sophisticated literature review; he not only talked about his own books in the field, but also the works of other authors. Within the book, he referenced The War for Talent, On the Mend, Drive, Peak, Contagious, Power, and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to name a few. Even Oprah Winfrey made the cut, when Morten talked about her commencement address to Stanford’s graduating class of 2008.In what could have been a dry, instructional, lecture style novel, Morten Hansen has created a composition of tips to help employees work smarter (not harder) and achieve more. By enhancing the reading with scenarios in multiple work settings, he has allowed any individual the ability to relate to these different situations and develop ways to use the strategies in their own daily work lives.Morten presented strategies for measuring and maximizing value, the art of deliberate practice, and matching purpose and passion. Morten mentioned that more activities does not equal more value and provided an equation for measuring value. This equation states that the value of a person’s work equals the benefits to others multiplied by the quality of the work multiplied by the efficiency. Another idea he presented was deliberate practice which involves doing a new skill, getting feedback, and making the necessary changes based on the feedback provided. Morten challenged the accepted idea to “follow your passion”. Morten tested the idea and concluded that one had to match his or her passion with purpose to be truly effective at work.While a majority of the tips given in this book are easily applicable, one that is not is refusing your boss. Although, Morten does mention the difficulty of this task and how it should be exercised with caution, there are many factors to consider before applying this tip. Firstly, the employee must fully understand the goals of the team and his or her role. If the employee does not have this understanding, he or she will not be able to give proper reasoning for refusing his or her manager. Secondly, he or she must understand the culture of the company that he or she is working for. If the culture in the company encourages employee involvement with changing processes, then refusing to take on a new project would not be frowned upon. Conversely, if the culture of the company does not encourage employee involvement then the refusal might not be accepted.Morten defies convention by providing a new perspective profound beliefs from the learnings within the chapter. A person doesn’t have to change his or her life by any modern standard, but this appreciably readable book is not in the business of following the status quo. Not only does this book elucidate the keys for top work performance, it provides a new perspective which could change one’s approach in all fields of life and maintain a positive work life balance.

  8. F Schulz –

    Im Vergleich zu vielen Konkurrenzprodukten hebt sich dieses Buch wohltuend durch den faktenbasierten Ansatz ab… Alles in allem sehr gut lesbar und mit interessanten Denkanstößen…

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