Why are we working harder than ever and yet being less effective? Why do we let work bleed into family life and holidays? The Activity Illusion breaks open the vicious circle of hyperactive work practices and shows how to fix it for you and your organisation. You will discover: · how to work less and be more effective in your job · why activity has become the new status · how up to 20% of your organisation's payroll gets soaked up by ineffective use of email · why we get "addicted" to email and BlackBerry · how to create the virtuous circle of an effective work life and a great life outside the office.
The Activity Illusion
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'A book we all need to read' --Chartered Management Institute
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By P. Courtney
Format:Paperback
Finally, I have an explanation for all the face-time I saw in my first career (banking), all the brown-nosing, early-hours emails that seem to circulate and those loud, pointless phone calls that middle-aged businessmen feel compelled to make in airports.
This book explains how, with new, flat hierarchies and less blatant displays of status in the workplace, 'activity' has become the new symbol of success. The anecdotes are interesting, timely and at times, hilarious - this is a very well-researched book.
This book explains how, with new, flat hierarchies and less blatant displays of status in the workplace, 'activity' has become the new symbol of success. The anecdotes are interesting, timely and at times, hilarious - this is a very well-researched book.
By Martin Jones
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I think there are some great nuggets of wisdom at the start of this book, albeit mixed in amongst a lot of common sense.
My sense of disappointment comes from the narrowness of the definition of work, and the lack of consideration of work throughout society as a whole. I doubt there will be many teachers, engineers, nurses or production managers, for instance, who would gain much from reading this book, as their professions will already have high standards of self-management and procedures for correcting poor behaviour.
The world of work which this book considers seems to be a kind of general administration/business management arena, rife with opinion as to what is actually work (reminiscing the days of long business lunches?) and prime territory for the kind of showy time-wasting that the book aims to cut.
I seriously doubted the direction the book was going in when I hit the chapter on Human Resources, Personal Development, Face-to-Face meetings and Appraisals. These are often the kind of time-sapping activities that get in the way of actual work and can put the brakes on productivity, even worse on morale, as not many people enter a profession to sit having cosy chats and filling in forms.
The latter section offers advice on how to live your life outside work in too specific a way; people should be trusted to spend their extra free time in a manner which suits them, not the author.
Maybe this was the wrong book for me, but it's hard to tell from the unnamed chapters and the other reviews.
My sense of disappointment comes from the narrowness of the definition of work, and the lack of consideration of work throughout society as a whole. I doubt there will be many teachers, engineers, nurses or production managers, for instance, who would gain much from reading this book, as their professions will already have high standards of self-management and procedures for correcting poor behaviour.
The world of work which this book considers seems to be a kind of general administration/business management arena, rife with opinion as to what is actually work (reminiscing the days of long business lunches?) and prime territory for the kind of showy time-wasting that the book aims to cut.
I seriously doubted the direction the book was going in when I hit the chapter on Human Resources, Personal Development, Face-to-Face meetings and Appraisals. These are often the kind of time-sapping activities that get in the way of actual work and can put the brakes on productivity, even worse on morale, as not many people enter a profession to sit having cosy chats and filling in forms.
The latter section offers advice on how to live your life outside work in too specific a way; people should be trusted to spend their extra free time in a manner which suits them, not the author.
Maybe this was the wrong book for me, but it's hard to tell from the unnamed chapters and the other reviews.
By C. Johnson
Format:Paperback
This is a thought-provoking, insightful and highly practical book written by an author who clearly knows his subject. Some of the often unnoticed ways in which we generate unprodctive activity are clearly highlighted through a combination of anecdotes, reference to research and personal observation - themes that I found I could easily relate to and suspect most others could too. The book then turns to consider how unproductive activities can be capped, offering a wealth of valuable ideas for tackling what is effectively a scourge of modern working. Well written and easy to dip into, this book should add value for anyone who struggles to stay on top of their daily workload. Highly recommended!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Achieving Work-Life Balance
Any professional that is trying to achieve work-life balance should read this book. The book offers an interesting perspective on why we are so attached to our Blackberries,... Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2011 by C. Brown-quinn
5.0 out of 5 stars
A cure for email and blackberry addiction
This is one of those rare books that is both very practical and academically sound so deserves a wide audience. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2011 by Carl French
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!
This is the kind of book which you read and think OF COURSE! It's so obvious, in retrospect, that the way we're working today is not really working. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2011 by Rob Archer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thoughtful & well researched
You need to read a book like this to realise how automatic humans are and how easy it is for us to slide into bad habits. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2010 by david.j.hill@bt.com
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant! Well researched and well written!!
Brilliant! This book will help every business person to set a real New Year Resolution for 2011. Well researched and well written!! Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2010 by David Sales
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