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

I really like the idea that we can create procedures and build systems that could improve our businesses and our lives, and that was exactly the premise of this book. It is a documentation of one man's epiphany of creating various systems and procedures to improve his un-organised life and business, and this book was going to tell me how to do the same.

However, I found myself struggling to read this book through. I found that a lot of the material was repetitive and long-winded and overall didn't contribute much in terms of knowledge or insight for the time invested in reading it. Although the author makes no apologies for being repetitive in his attempt to "drill it home" I found that the book would have been better off if it was a bit more concise and to the point, a short summary at the end of each chapter or section would've earned this book another star alone. Otherwise it does seem to be one mans ramblings on the same epiphany over and over and the important points and messages seems to get lost in the fray.

I had almost given up on the rest of the book until I reached about halfway when the author decides to tell you his method of creating systems which I have found to be a particularly helpful starting point for system creation.

It is at this point I realise that the main focus of this book is "Operational Excellence" (see Discipline of Market Leaders by Treacy & Wiersema). Owing to the nature of his business is not unreasonable to see why Operational excellence would have been a great leveraged advancement for his business (and his life).

Overall there is a good selection of topics in this book and would be really helpful to anybody that feels that they need to create a more systematic way of doing things. The book itself provides a good blueprint of how to identify the symptoms of procedural shortcomings and provides a methodology of sorts in how to rectify the problem. The only major problem is trying to get through it and teasing out all the important points.

Do your days flow smoothly? Do you have plenty of time to do your work and play too? No? Then, likely your days go something like this: putting out fires all day at work, trying to keep up with family responsibilities in a very short amount of time each night, then trying to get a little sleep before the day starts all over again.

Work the System tells us that the answer isn't working harder or sleeping less. The problem is that we are looking at everything in one huge whole. We are trying to fix everything all at once but we aren't really making any real changes. No wonder we are overwhelmed.

Work the System looks at each aspect of work and life in generally as distinct systems. Each system has specific components. If these components are in working order and are properly maintained, the system works fine. However, one missing or extra cog can bring the system crashing down. The key is to find the problems and fix them. Then, you can spend your time doing other things.

If you are sick of clutter and need to do something about it then start with Sam Carpenter's book "Work the System".

To most small business owners, I'm sure Sam's story will sound very familiar. Too much work, not enough time, I must do this job myself because I'm the only one who knows how to do it etc. Well that can all end with the purchase of Sam's excellent book.

So how has "Work the System" helped me?

Well, I started the process off by removing the clutter from my personal life (yes, this book covers systems for you and your business). I've unsubscribed to all the many emails that I thought I wanted to read, but upon receiving them, merely opening them up, scanning them and deleting. It's only now that I realise how stupid I was. I would receive emails and look at them thinking I'll read that later, look at them again later (knowing full well that there is nothing inside the email that will interest me), but again thinking I'll read that tomorrow. The point is not only about the amount of time I spent reading the email and then deleting it, but also about the amount of time spent thinking about reading the email and deleting it. Multiply this by the insane amount of blogs I'd subscribed to (we all like receiving emails, right) and it all adds up to an embarrassing amount of wasted time. And I thought I was being productive when in fact I was being swamped. Crazy!

I've also automated my personal accounts so that everything is automatically paid instead of manually paid. I used to think that I was in control if I chose to pay the bills manually, and many times I would look at a bill and think I'll pay that tomorrow, then forget to, only to look at it again or think of it just as I'm about to drop off sleep. Now I don't think about them at all. They do not clutter my mind and I can get on with other more meaningful tasks. Some of you may not be able to automate all your bills, but I guarantee you will be able to automate most of them.

I'm in the process of starting my own business and I've started to draft documentation that will outline the processes once I start. I've even designed what my invoice will look like. The point is, I can concentrate on running my business when I start rather than chasing my tail like most small businesses do in their first year.

Sam points out that this road of discovery does not happen overnight, and nor should it, this is a process of deconstructing your current business (and life) and putting it back together piece by piece. Even if you implement a quarter of the things Sam suggests then you will have gained valuable hours of your life back that you can fill with something that inspires rather than saps you.

Great book, great read, buy it now or crumble under the weight of the modern world.