Customer Reviews

The Promise Doctrine (a guidebook and system for consistently delivering on your promises!) (Volume 1)

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With all the things we have coming into us each day, it's easy to say "I promise to do x" and then just sort of forget about it. But doing that repeatedly causes your reputation and authenticity to take a serious hit. Craig P. Womack and Jason W. Womack cover this situation in their new book The Promise Doctrine (A guidebook and system for consistently delivering on your promises!). Given my recent track record on delivering on promises, this was a timely (and excellent) read and review for me.

Contents:
Chapter 1 - What's On Your Promise "Plate"?
Chapter 2 - Why This, Why Now?
Chapter 3 - So, Let's Get Started
Chapter 4 - Promise Making
Chapter 5 - The Promise Journey
Chapter 6 - The Promise Doctrine
Element One - PROMISE
Element Two - PERFORM
Element Three - HURDLES
Element Four - RENEGOTIATE
Element Five - TRUST
Element Six - CELEBRATE
The Promise Guide

First off, the Womacks set up the reason why making *and keeping* promises is important. Promises are similar to goals, in that once you make a promise, you need to be able to take the necessary steps to follow through and complete the action. When you make promises without the intention (or the plans) to keep them, people start to doubt your reliability and truthfulness. And once you've lost that, it's very hard to regain. It's best to treat those promises as "to do's" that are not open for failure. If a promise isn't unfolding like you anticipated, then you renegotiate to reset expectations. But you do *not* just "not do it".

There were a couple of elements here that I had never associated with promise making and keeping. One is to view a promise as a goal. A goal is really just a promise to yourself (or someone else) that you will accomplish something. When I think of promise keeping as goal setting, it puts me on somewhat more familiar ground on how to make sure I bring the promise to fulfillment. The other element I had not thought of was treating promises as "to do" items a la the "Getting Things Done" methodology. Mind sweeps to get all your promises down on paper empty your mind so that you're not leaking mental energy trying to remember everything. Once they're down on paper, it's much easier to track each one and figure out what needs to be done next to keep things on track.

The Promise Doctrine isn't some complex system or "way out of left field" new-age philosophy. It's just solid information on how to stay real to yourself and others by delivering on things that you promise to do and perform. Simply recognizing promises in the way that Craig and Jason outline helps you see the problem for what it is, and puts you on a solid path for getting things back where they should be. An excellent read...

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Author
Payment: Free

I received the book on Thursday (December 24th) and finished it on the morning of the 26th. (Didn't have time Christmas day to do any reading!) Excellent job at clarifying the processes. I am going to start writing my promises down so that I remember them and keep on schedule to completion.

One of the things I found most excellent about the book is that it is simple. So many personal improvement books lose themselves in the machinations of "the process". This book is straightforward and easy to implement.

I am going to keep it in my briefcase so that I can refer to it when I start feeling as if I am slipping of the path.

Thank you Jason and Craig for an fantastic work!

I have read this book once and plan on reading it again next week. This book couldn't have come at a better time as I am putting together my business plan for 2010.

This book really helped me to understand that breaking promises to myself are just as detrimental to breaking promises to co-workers, friends and family.

What makes this book different is that there are step by step instructions on how to make sure you keep these promises. The book is unique in the foldout pages it has, this really helped me focus on what I was reading and not just turning another page.

This is a book that can be re-read every month (it has a lot of good information, but isn't too long at all) to make sure you keep on track and stick to the promises you make.

I wish I had this book earlier in my career. Confident it will help me keep the promises I make to myself and others.
The Promise Doctrine will help make 2010 a great year!!

roland greco

I read The Promise Doctrine while traveling this past month and was struck by the clarity and simplicity of it's authors' message: "Relationships, families, businesses and organizations are defined by the promises people keep, break and renegotiate". This concept is one that is very simple to read and agree with, but dangerously easy to lose sight of in the day to day grind. The Womacks provide quick tips on how make promises we can keep and provide a user friendly system to help ensure that we keep them.

The Promise Doctrine's brilliant format (with fold out pages, worksheets, etc) helped me to keep a firm focus on the material as I worked my way through. The exercises contained within it's pages gave me a chance to look at my own habits and reassess how I make and keep promises.

The Promise Doctrine opens our eyes to how keeping (or not keeping) our promises impacts our relationships in business and personal life. Very importantly, the book also point out that promises we make to ourselves are just as critical!

A huge Bravo to the Womacks for delivering such an important message in an easy to read and digest format.

Well worth it's weight in gold!

Is he trustworthy? That is the question most of my clients must ask themselves of me before they will do business with me. I want my clients and my family and friends to think of me when asked who in their life consistently delivers on their promises.

I normally don't write reviews of books, but I just finished reading "The Promise Doctrine" and felt compelled to share my impressions of this straight forward "guidebook" to making and keeping promises.

They correctly state that "your personal and professional success is directly proportional to your ability to make and keep promises". I thought about those whom I want to conduct business with and realized that this simple "doctrine" holds true. When one becomes a keeper of promises, they become trustworthy and reliable.

I have always felt I was a trustworthy person, but I didn't realize how many promises (mostly to myself) that I was breaking each week. In less than 100 pages the Womack's (father and son) gave me a systematic method to do what I said I was going to do, when I said I was going to do it.

This book gives me a "Real World" approach to defining and keeping the promises I make through hands on lesson's and activities. I am now making (and keeping) promises in a measurable timeframe and becoming a trusted advisor to my family, friends and clients.

I love this book. It's short, it's simple, it gets right to the point. I read the whole thing in one sitting, which is something I rarely do. It has the perfect step-by-step process for getting yourself to be more productive and more reliable at work, or really anywhere. And that, of course, leads to people trusting you, it leads to promotions, it leads to more income. You name it. So it's basically a book for everyone.

The Promise Doctrine is a great book for the working professional.

Craig & Jason Womack did a great job in outlining and defining what promises are, and how we can do a better job of keeping them. This book is filled with worksheets and foldout pages to help you better understand and use its principles. So grab the book and a pen, and be ready for work.

Anyone who leads or is accountable to other members of a team needs to read The Promise Doctrine.

Like everything that comes from the Womack stable, this book is creative, focussed and just a little different. Enough to not only differentiate itself, but add real value to those who want a practical tool that helps improve personal and workplace productivity.

Plus a promise is a powerful thing and I like the fact this book pushes us back to base values that help us execute.

This is truly a great book that gets to the point and gives really good advice on how you can systematically keep your promises. I will try to apply these techniques at my current position. The way the book is structured is very helpful with pull outs that breaks down the main points. Overall, it is a wonderfully written book and I will highly recommend it.

Jason Womack's book, The Promise Doctrine, shed's important light on the consequences (both good and bad) that your daily promises yield.

This book contains one of the most powerful one line quotes I've ever heard or read. It answers the question "What is the 'Key' to personal and professional success?". (And I'm usually not big on one liners... this one works in any context).

Also, the book is a quick read - doesn't bog you down with theory; just truth... A lot of white space by design. Extremely 'digestible'.

I've studied productivity in corporate environments for more than 5 years now. My current role (Manager of Workforce Productivity) for a Global 500 company demands that I be on the cutting edge of insight, habits and techniques of being productive and teaching others how to be also. This book is a must read for me, and a must read for anyone looking to get to 'the next level' in their life and work.