Customer Reviews

Make Work Great: Super Charge Your Team, Reinvent the Culture, and Gain Influence One Person at a Time

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In my thirty plus years as a trainer and consultant to leaders in a variety of companies, I have been constantly asked to recommend books that could help someone be a better leader or manager. Before now there has not been a single book that captures what I consider to be most, if not all, the essential keys to success. I have used these tools, taught these tools and, to have them all in one place, it is like getting a handbook to professional and organizational success.

Steve Overcashier
OD & Training Manager
Copart, Inc.

Muzio dives headfirst in describing how anybody can influence change inside an organization. He outlines the thinking and the processes that build from person to mini-culture to consistency in establishing a new work environment.

Make Work Great takes the overwhelming and makes it simple and obvious. Using the techniques in this book any person can change the culture of their workplace, to make it great. The author, Ed Muzio, masterfully distills a hugely complex and intimidating subject, rendering it into a simple practical guide on how to change an organization's culture. No pomp and circumstance, just a practical step by step guide that really works. The approach outlined in this book will be particularly important in the era of social and professional networking.

The book itself is a quick read with high ROI - learn how you can become a culture builder from any role in any organization. I wish I'd had this book earlier in my career.

Roy White, Director of Operations
Semiconductor Capital Equipment Company

My mom would have liked Ed Muzio. Whenever I complained that I was bored, mom would fix that mom-look on me and ask, "Whose fault is that?"

Well, if you're complaining that the place you work is rotten, awful, and mind-numbing, Ed has a question for you: "Whose fault is that?"

Actually, he doesn't ask that question, but Part 1 of the book is titled "It starts with you." And the first chapter is "You ... as the seed."

Make Work Great: Super Charge Your Team, Reinvent the Culture, and Gain Influence One Person at a Time is the book that will show you how you can be the seed of change that transforms your working environment. Big promise, eh?

The book will deliver on the promise, but you have to do your part. One important part is that you must start at the beginning and go through the book from front to back.

Do the exercises. Yes, I mean it. They're easy to do and they will help you get value from the book. They're also cumulative. The exercises in chapter 2 build on the exercises in chapter 1, for example.

Here's what you'll find when you work your way through this book. It's designed as a Prologue, followed by three sections of three chapters each.

The Prologue bears the subtitle, "Choose to Choose" and sets the stage for the book. It makes that case that you and I are often driven by things besides considered choice. We also make some common mental errors that most other people also make.

That's why as Ed Muzio says on page 6: "You must start by making a conscious choice to drive the culture around you, rather than be driven by it." If you're not willing to make the choice, don't buy the book. You'll be wasting your money.

If you're willing to do what very few people choose to do, then prepare to do a little work. I suggest setting aside some time every day to read the book and work the exercises. I suggest a debriefing session each day.

Here's what the book has in store for you.

Part 1, "It starts with you," begins with chapter 1: "You ... as the Seed." It gives you a basic framework for understanding the working environment and your place in it.

Chapter 2 is: "Overtness about Task." Muzio tells you to be "overt," by which he means "transparent and obvious" about six aspects of work. They are purpose, impact, incentives, progress, resources, and capability.

The workplace is a web of relationships, except by now you won't be thinking of it as a web. Muzio's metaphor is a crystal. That's a powerful choice. Webs are two dimensional. Crystals are three dimensional.

Filling in what that means for you is what happens in Chapter 3: "Clarity within Relationships." Muzio wants you to seek clarity on three aspects of workplace interaction. They are purpose, approach (how to interact most effectively) and a clear definition of the minimum requirement for success.

This brings you to the end of the first part of the book. If you only get this far, you will have dramatically improved your ability to understand what's going on at work.

You won't have made any changes, though. That's what the second part of the book is about.

Part 2 begins the "doing." It's titled "Growing Your Crystal." There are three chapters: "Beginning Your Crystal;" "Organic Growth;" and, "When Growth is Difficult."

In Part 3, the advice shifts to "Leading Your Crystal." The chapters are "From Contributor to Advisor," "Mobilizing Groups," and "You ... as the Definer." Note that this does not assume that you will become or already are the boss.

That's a powerful message. It puts flesh on concepts like "you can lead from anywhere" and "leadership without position."

That's a strength for most readers. But it's a problem for those who are bosses.

Bosses start out in a different place. They are shapers of the culture and work environment whether they choose to be or not.

Muzio has included some specific advice for bosses. It's in the chapter on "Beginning Your Crystal." The advice is good, but there's not enough of it. If you're a boss, that means you will learn a lot, but you have to adapt a lot as you move through Parts 2 and 3.

I've talked to Ed Muzio about it. I'll be interviewing him for a special post on my Three Star Leadership blog about how to use Make Work Great if you're the boss.

Bottom Line

If you're an individual contributor who's willing to do your part, Make Work Great will help you transform your own working environment.

If you simply want to understand how work cultures operate, it will help you do that, as well.

If you're a boss of any kind, you'll get value from Make Work Great, but you may have to do some extra work to adapt the recommendations to your specific situation.

Last week I received my copy of Ed Muzio's new book, "Make Work Great".

I'm a big fan of Ed's work (writings, videos, and presentations), because he's one of the few thinkers out there who is trying help individuals build a bridge between great tools and productive relationships.

Also, because he's a great guy who happens to be a friend. Full disclosure: I acted as one of the 'peer reviewers' for "Make Work Great" last summer. I'm also the instructional designer for the companion one-day workshop.

Ed's 'Overtness' framework - which combines overtness of task (purpose, impact, incentive, progress, resources, and capability) with overtness of relationships (clarity, questions, approach, and agreement) - is a powerful tool. This framework helped me look at what I do and how I interact in a new light.

I've seen multiple groups (in my company and outside) react to this material with appreciation for the usefullness of the tools and appliations.

Ed's goal is to increase output - while reducing stress - in the workplace. This book points us in the right direction. I highly recommend you check it out.

Should be a "must read" for anyone contemplating starting up a new business as well as for CEO's and leaders in established corporations. How you go about molding the culture of the organization tells a lot about its management, people and the company's `staying power.' Ed's book really stops and makes you think about something up front that is EXTREMELY difficult to modify or change down the road. Excellent read!

Terry B.Sullivan
Dir. Production
MemPro Ceramics, Inc.

Make Work Great is more than a title--it is a promise. Ed Muzio has written a handbook that broadens and deepens every aspect of a career. More important, he has applied its step-by-step principles to his own ever-expanding network. The author is himself the answer to the most vital question of all: Does it work?

Ed Muzio has a fresh perspective on the current workplace and its impact on an individual's productivity. Better understanding your role in the workplace and how you impact the greater culture can dynamically change your long term career path. Ed provides a clear, concise explanation on how you can improve your work experience and ultimately increase your performance making you a more valuable asset to your organization.

Make Work Great is a very useful and pragmatic book for affecting real change in your work (or other) environment. The key point of the book is that change starts with YOU -- there is no "THEY" when it comes to making work great. In making this point, Ed gives several tools, tips and frameworks on how to affect change for the positive in the workplace, including interpersonal relationships with work colleagues and a more collaborative approach in the intricate corporate network in which many of us work. This book should be required reading for new employees, executive-level staff members and everyone in between. Thanks for showing the way, Ed!