Work the System

Life is composed of systems that are yours to control or not to control.

There are two psychological approaches to finding a way to live a full and positive life:

1. The Freudian stance: Assumes that our past determines our present happiness
2. The cognitive approach: Our current thoughts determine our happiness

The cognitive approach is more practical as it implies that we control what happens in our lives.

• Fixing life’s problems in one swoop is impossible. You have to proceed one step at a time.
• There is a direct relationship between happiness and the amount of control that we have.
• To take control of our lives, we have to adopt a different perspective. We must question our status quo in relation to ourselves. It is about sorting the things that are under our area of influence.
• Orderliness and attention to detail are keys to peace.
• The mindset of successful people is such that they pay attention to the mechanical details of life.

The Work The System protocol has three main aspects:

• The Strategic Objective. This is similar to the declaration of independence. It is your mandate for a better future. It will provide overall direction to your work and personal life
• The General Operating Principles document. This is similar to the constitution. It offers a guideline for future decision making
• The Working Procedures. These are the laws guiding your game. These are the blue-collar fundamentals of your work.

The world operates efficiently 99% of the time because physical laws are unchangeable.

1. Internalize the fundamentals. Improve your perspective of life and business
2. Pinpoint the goals of your business, life, and job. This is your Strategic objective
3. Create your collection of General Operating Principles. Define specific systems for improvement.
4. Dissect each system into its fundamental aspects. Create a 1, 2, 3 step format for each subsystem in your life
5. Improve each step one at a time. Make your systems perfect
6. Document each system into a working procedure.
7. Put the new working procedures into play.

To end workplace chaos, get things on paper. Begin by developing your Strategic Objective document.

The Strategic Objective document will become your fundamental guideline for making decisions.

Without exception, the businesses that are large and successful are “working their systems.” And the ones without thoughtful direction and structured, sensible protocols—most small businesses— are struggling.

• Working Procedures make the system tangible, something that can be seen, touched and even perfected.
• Working Procedures provide direction for flawless operation. 
• Be ruthless in insisting that the staff follow the set guidelines. 
• The procedure should be rock solid and inflexible until your management staff agrees that changes are necessary.

1. Every recurring process requires a Working Procedure. The procedure should define the best method of doing the process
2. When a problem arises, your staff should use it as a cue to create or modify a Working Procedure. If the problem is infrequent, there is no need for that.
3. Involve your staff in creating new procedures. They are as responsible as managers for keeping the company running efficiently
4. Make procedures identical in presentation. This will make instructions clearer across the company
5. Every new procedure needs to be revised. 
6. Sign off the procedures yourself.

If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business—you have a job.

If you are employed, the goal is to use the 40 hour-week to produce large quantities of superior work to ascend the management ranks, earn serious money, and call your shots.

Time and money wasted is time and money gone forever. And a waste of time and money means some other positive thing that could have happened, didn’t.

• Don’t waste your time on useless content or by complaining about what you cannot influence.
• Not taking action is a choice. And since you are making choices daily, why not make them count?
• Point-of-sale posture: Being ready to act and on the offence.

• Biological prime time(BPT) is all about maximizing your productivity when your brainpower is at its peak. Some people work best in the morning while others in the evening.
• The concept of prime time aims at the most fundamental of systems which is our actions.
• BPT is when you should create your Strategic Objective, General Operating Principles, and Working Procedures. Of course, after your initial Work the System documentation is complete, BPT will continue to be there for whatever takes focus, whatever takes the most concentration. You will learn to cherish these golden hours.

Mechanical prime time (MPT) is the time spent working on system improvement and building primary systems such as your career and your business. MPT exists only if we create it.

During the workday, no matter what you are doing, look at each action you take and ask yourself if it is contributing to “making more and working less."