Jensen - The simplicity survival handbook: 32 ways to do less and accomplish more

Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster
Work 2.0: Building the Future, One Employee at a Time
for more: www.simplerwork.com

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Copyright 2003 by William D. Jensen

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Jacket design by Rick Pracher, Basic Books
Text art direction by Bill Jensen, design by Aimee Leary/Final Art Text set in 12 pt. Times. Display type, subheads, sidebars and tables set in Helvetica. Royalty-free clip art on interior pages courtesy of Dover Publications (Master Clips) and Getty Images (Creatures; Creatures, Features & Faces; Directions in Technology; Eye on Technology; Pop Life)

Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 0-7382-0912-0
e-Book ISBN: 9780465009886

First printing, October 2003
03 04 05 06 / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The Simplicity Survival Handbook

32 Ways to Do Less and Accomplish More

Bill Jensen

For those who want a

You could write a more scathing, bold, and brilliant introduction than me because youve lived through every problem Ive studied, and have the skid marks on your back to prove it.

All you need are the tools.

Fast.

And all you want are the stripped-down to-dos.

OK

1. Go to the Do-Less Toolkit on page 265
2. Rip out those 15 pages, and toss the rest of this book
3. Use the tools. Follow the LawsOLess

The Toolkit reduces everything in the book to summary checklists. Of course, youll miss out on BlahBlahBlah (fill in with whatever authors say about every word they write being important) but youll still get a huge return on whatever you paid for this book.

For those who want a

Why Youre Reading This Book

Theres too much silliness, noise, and crap coming at you, and you want to find the shut-off valve. You want to do less, and accomplish more making more of a difference, and working only on what truly matters. Right?

Why I Wrote This Book

Ive been studying work complexity for more than a decade. (See below: Search for a Simpler Way.) From that research, Ive designed a book of workarounds and shut-off valves ways to get around or stop the senseless stuff that comes at you every day.

The tools in this book work. Theyve been field-tested by people just like you, so I know that you can use most every idea to immediately create simpler workdays for yourself.

But I also hope you will feel something after reading these pages.

If you are an employee, or a mid-manager, or free agent:

• You dont have to be a victim of corporate crap, nor do you have to perpetuate it.
• There are ways you can do something about it (surprise!) without jeopardizing your job.
• You have a lot more control over your workload than you think you do.

If you are a senior executiveSpeaking the truth to power:

You are gonna love some of the chapters in this book!

They will truly help you drive clarity and focus throughout your organization.

Other chapters, frankly, you may hate.

Dont worry. Im not an anarchist.

This isnt a manual for overthrowing your company.

Im merely telling you the truth about behaviors I have seen in your organization. Your employees wont tell you that theyre already doing workarounds on stuff that you think are important, but they think are silly, wasteful, and an ineffective use of their time and talents.

So I will.

From there, its up to you.

Will you banish this book, and create policies to stop the workarounds? Or will you use this as a handbook to change the conversation about leadership, communication, productivity, workflow, efficiency, and more?

This is a Book About Respect

Respecting yourself more:

Doing less stuff that really doesnt matter, and treating the limited time you have as more precious.

Respecting others more:

Recognizing that every communication you send, every meeting you conduct, and every to-do you assign to others uses a portion of someone elses life.

Throat-Clearing Disclaimer:

Doing less and laziness are not the same thing

This is not a guide to laziness.

On every page you will find accountabilities that you own, and cannot shirk. The second half of the subtitle is Accomplish More.

This isnt a license to tell your boss to stick it just because he doesnt get it. This isnt a goof-off manual. This is a book about doing less stupid stuff so you can make more of a difference. And work only on what truly matters. Thats what you said you wanted, right?