Be Excellent at Anything: The Four Keys To Transforming the Way We Work and Live [Paperback]

Tony Schwartz (Author), Jean Gomes (Author), Catherine McCarthy (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 1, 2011

This book was previously titled, The Way We're Working Isn't Working.

Be Excellent at Anything is one of those rare books with the power to profoundly transform the way we work and live.

    Demand is exceeding our capacity. The ethic of "more, bigger, faster" exacts a series of silent but pernicious costs at work, undermining our energy, focus, creativity, and passion. Nearly 75 percent of employees around the world feel disengaged at work every day. Be Excellent at Anything offers a groundbreaking approach to reenergizing our lives so we’re both more satisfied and more productive—on the job and off.

     By integrating multidisciplinary findings from the science of high performance, Tony Schwartz, coauthor of the #1 bestselling The Power of Full Engagement, makes a persuasive case that we’re neglecting the four core needs that energize great performance: sustainability (physical); security (emotional); self-expression (mental); and significance (spiritual). Rather than running like computers at high speeds for long periods, we’re at our best when we pulse rhythmically between expending and regularly renewing energy across each of our four needs.

     Organizations undermine sustainable high performance by forever seeking to get more out of their people. Instead they should seek systematically to meet their four core needs so they’re freed, fueled, and inspired to bring the best of themselves to work every day.

     Drawing on extensive work with an extra-ordinary range of organizations, among them Google, Ford, Sony, Ernst & Young, Shell, IBM, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Cleveland Clinic, Schwartz creates a road map for a new way of working. At the individual level, he explains how we can build specific rituals into our daily schedules to balance intense effort with regular renewal; offset emotionally draining experiences with practices that fuel resilience; move between a narrow focus on urgent demands and more strategic, creative thinking; and balance a short-term focus on immediate results with a values-driven commitment to serving the greater good. At the organizational level, he outlines new policies, practices, and cultural messages that Schwartz’s client companies have adopted.

     Be Excellent at Anything offers individuals, leaders, and organizations a highly practical, proven set of strategies to better manage the relentlessly rising demands we all face in an increasingly complex world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Schwartz, CEO of the Energy Project, stretches an obvious thesis to the breaking point in his plaint on how the American workplace—theoretically where technology has allowed us to reach for more, bigger, faster—has bred an atmosphere in which workers have become disengaged from their work. We fail to take care of ourselves, he points out, and end up undermining our health, happiness, and productivity. Using a series of quadrants describing the emotional workings of both employees and companies, he argues that nothing is gained—and much is lost—by constantly pushing people to achieve more and more in less time and with fewer resources; rejuvenation and rest are necessary for creative breakthroughs and broader perspectives. All well and good, but the bulk of the book is then eaten up exhorting readers to get more sleep, exercise, eat better, and take care of their emotional health. While a reminder to cultivate engagement and mindfulness is always relevant to the modern business reader, the usable content is slim—and fluffed out beyond the point of readability. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Schwartz coauthored the bestseller The Power of Full Engagement (2003) and is the CEO of The Energy Project, bringing effective energy management coaching to organizations such as Google, Ford, Sony, Toyota, and the Los Angeles Police Department. His project and this book are shedding light on what most working folks know but don’t like to talk about: that most of us are not fully engaged or satisfied in our work environment; that we are constantly running on an unsustainable schedule that does not allow for enough sleep; and in addition to being physically tired, we are not allowed the kind of emotional, creative, and spiritual outlets that we need to be fulfilled. Schwartz notes that people at work are expected to run continuously, like machines, but unlike machines or computers, people do not function well when forced to work and process information on a continual basis, but need a balance of activities that allow for both expending and recovering energy. He proposes solutions for business leaders to maximize human potential by embracing our need for both effort and renewal. --David Siegfried --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; Reprint edition (February 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451610262
• ISBN-13: 978-1451610260
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Human Resources & Personnel Management

More About the Author

Tony Schwartz is the President and CEO of The Energy Project, which helps individuals and organizations perform at their best. Tony's last book, The Power of Full Engagement, co-authored with Jim Loehr, was a Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 28 languages. Tony's article "Manage Energy, Not Time: The Science of Stamina," co-authored with Catherine McCarthy, was published in the October, 2007 Harvard Business Review. Tony co-authored the #1 worldwide bestseller The Art of the Deal with Donald Trump and also wrote What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in America.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 91 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Why The Way We're Working Isn't Working Really Works May 21, 2010

By Martin Baker

Format:Hardcover

Think Rule #5.

Alan Webber, co-founder of Business Week, wrote that change is a math formula. Change happens when the cost of status quo is greater than the risk of change. C(SQ) > R(C).

Tony Schwartz has written a provocative book that takes a serious look at the one area in business that seems immune to change -- the human costs of doing business in the digital age, Schwartz, the co-author of The Power of Full Engagement provides a proven prescription for making positive changes in the way we work.

The Way We're Working Isn't Working makes a compelling case that we're neglecting four core needs that energize performance. The book is an extension of the ideas Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy introduced in the Harvard Business Review in 2007. (Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time.)

Their premise is deceptively simple: "The furious activity to accomplish more with less exacts a series of silent costs: less capacity for focused attention, less time for any given task, and less opportunity to think reflectively and long term."

In other words, less energy. And perhaps more importantly, less sustainable energy.

The insights that Schwartz and his colleagues at The Energy Project bring to The Way We're Working Isn't Working are based on their experiences working with such organizations as Wachovia, The Cleveland Clinic, the LA Police Department, Sony and Ernst & Young and IBM.

Like Dan Pink's book, Drive, this book challenges the notion of what truly works in today's business environment. While Pink focuses on motivation, Schwartz challenges the idea of how to enhance the performance of employees -- and much of it is counter-intuitive to how we do business.

"A growing body of research suggests that we're most productive when we move between periods of high focus and intermittent rest. Instead, we live in a gray zone, constantly juggling activities but rarely fully engaging in any of them -- or fully disengaging from any of them."

Within the first 10 pages, Schwartz makes a persuasive case. "Most organizations enable our dysfunctional behaviors and even encourage them through policies, practices, reward systems and cultural messages that serve to drain our energy and run down our value over time.

An increasing number of organizations pay lip service to the notion that `are our greatest asset.' But even among companies that make that claim, the cast majority off-load the care and feeding of employees to divisions known as "human resources," which are rarely accorded an equal place at the executive table. As a consequence, the needs of employees are marginalized and treated perquisites provided through programs that focus on topics like `leadership development,' `wellness,' and `flexibility' -- all largely code words for nonessential functions."

Again, think rule #5.

How willing are executives today willing to change the status quo? Products are being made. Services are being rendered. But at what cost?

The four core areas that energize great performance are sustainability (physical needs) security (emotional) self-expression (mental) and significance (spiritual). Schwartz makes the case that we're at our best, not when act like computers running at high speed for long hours, but when we pulse rhythmically between expending and regularly renewing energy across each of our four needs.

The value of the book is enhanced by downloadable tools to help you evaluate your current situation and how to begin addressing the four core areas to enhance the ability of your company to harness the energy of all your employees.

If you want to make positive change in your organization and want to move beyond the status quo, The Way We're Working Isn't Working -- is a working blueprint for any company's future. I highly recommend it.

46 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read to Living an Extraordinary Life! May 13, 2010

By Keith E. Lawrence

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

There are countless books written on how to improve your performance at work, be healthier, and live a better life. 'The Way We're Working Isn't Working' should be at the top of the reading list. Tony presents a compelling case on how our current approach to life (going flat out) is harming us, our families, and our organizations. He also shares a multitude of simple, pragmatic and powerful tips on how to build your capacity to better deal with the many demands we face every day. I have seen his ideas radically transform many friends and co workers who are more energized, engaged, and enjoying life than ever before.

45 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Key to Success in the 21st Century May 31, 2010

By Katherine L. Robison

Format:Hardcover

I am often asked to review and blog about new business books coming to market, and only rarely do I oblige. When Tony asked me to review his new book, I said yes immediately. His ideas around managing energy as opposed to time resonated with me years ago after reading, The Power of Full Engagement and play a big role in my own consulting practice. The energy management concept, if explored to its full potential, can do more to transform an organization than any other single component.

The great thing about Tony's new book is that it is full of sound research that reinforces what Tony is teaching and helps us to really understand why we do the things we do, even when they are counter productive to our goals. More importantly, he provides practical advise on how to begin the process of change that will work for anyone in any stage of their career, or any organization at any level of health. Not only will you find great information to help you become a better employee, leader, or manager, but you will also find that this book will help you become the person, spouse, parent, child, and sibling that your heart desires.

If any of the following statements resonate with you, buy it NOW

* I always feel like I am behind in my work and will never catch up
* I want my team to be more productive
* I desperately want to find balance between my work life and home life
* I want my team to be more accountable and responsible
* I struggle with the daily distractions of email, phone calls, and endless request for my time and can't get any of my own work done
* My company does a poor job of retaining employees