Master Moment

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MASTER

THE MOMENTFifty CEOs teach you the secretsof time management

Pat Brans





MASTER THE MOMENT

Fifty CEOs teach you thesecrets of time management



Pat Brans’ compelling book shows you how to get more donefaster than ever before. More importantly, you’ll learn to dothings of greater value.

Brian Tracy Author, Time Power and Eat That Frog

History’s greatest leaders understood the importance of time management. Master the Moment by Pat Brans is the best book I haveever read on the subject. Exhaustively researched, skillfullyconveyed, and insightful in its applications, this book should be

required reading for anyone who aspires to be an effective leader.Donald T. Phillips

Author, Lincoln On Leadership

Pat Brans has grilled dozens of top achievers for their secrets. Thisbook is a lively, entertaining, and inspiring compilation of their wisdom. Every reader will find some useful tips for a better, happier,more successful life.

Dr Roy F. Baumeister Author, Is There Anything Good About Men?

This book is strewn with pearls of practical wisdom on the art of time management gleaned from fifty chief executives. It is a greatguide to becoming a better time manager, especially for those inmore senior leadership positions. Lively, stimulating and fun.

John Adair Author, Effective Leadership Development

Master the Moment is the most complete book on time managementI’ve seen. It explains underlying ideas, it provides useful techniques,and it even includes a well-founded and practical approach to changing habits.

Brad Stock

President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Lyon, France



Pat Brans gives us a tool for self-discovery, to find what we dobest and where we fall short with Father Time. Looking throughthe eyes of the world’s highest achievers, this book will guide youto see yourself at the head of the boardroom (or of your family)and provide you with tips on how to live a fuller life.

Roby ChavezReporter, Fox Television Inc., Washington, DC

Pat Brans’ style, anecdotal and practical, makes Master the Momenta true pleasure to read. Beyond entertaining and insightful, it is full

of stories that are both useful and inspirational. The examplesdemonstrate that the people who accomplish remarkable things inbusiness are not those with the most ‘natural talent’, but ratherthose who are most willing to evolve and improve. Time management is a learned skill, and we can all learn from this book.

John Sadowsky Author and leadership coach



BCS, The Chartered Institute for ITOur mission as BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, is to enable theinformation society. We promote wider social and economicprogress through the advancement of information technologyscience and practice. We bring together industry, academics,practitioners and government to share knowledge, promote newthinking, inform the design of new curricula, shape public policyand inform the public.

Our vision is to be a world-class organisation for IT. Our 70,000strong membership includes practitioners, businesses, academics

and students in the UK and internationally. We deliver a range ofprofessional development tools for practitioners and employees.A leading IT qualification body, we offer a range of widely recognisedqualifications.

Further InformationBCS The Chartered Institute for ITFirst Floor, Block D

North Star House, North Star AvenueSwindon, SN2 1FA, United KingdomT +44 (0) 1793 417 424F +44 (0) 1793 417 444www.bcs.org/contactus



Pat Brans

MASTER THE MOMENT

Fifty CEOs teach you thesecrets of time management





for Louise

vii



CONTENTS

List of figures and tables xiiAuthor xiii Acknowledgements xiv Abbreviations xv Preface xvi

PART I: THE RIGHT MINDSET 1

1 HIGH ACHIEVERS 3What some people get done 4Natural ability versus good time management 8Exercises 14

2 POWERFUL NOTIONS 16

Setting in motion processes that run without your

Solving a class of problems instead of just the

Doing the right things versus doing things right 16Aligning yourself with natural laws 18Managing your attitude 21

attention 23Putting in place virtuous cycles 25Striving for sustainability 27

problem at hand 28Solving problems at their source 30Seeking advice 33

Considering all stakeholders 35Slowing down to go faster 36

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CONTENTS

3 MAKING IT WORK FOR YOU 38Internalising ideas 38

Acquiring new habits 41An overview of the six steps 49

PART II: SIX STEPS TO GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT 53

4 IDENTIFY YOURSELF 55Setting your course 56Managing your attitude 62The economics of authenticity 68The importance of people 72The power of trust 80‘Will do’ goals 85Habits 88Exercises 89

5 ENERGISE 90Exercise 92

Nutrition 95Sleep 97Balanced life 103Biorhythms 106Habits 111Exercises 112

6 PRIORITISE 113

Choosing what to do 115Planning to do IT 125Sticking to your priorities 134Habits 140Exercises 141

7 OPTIMISE 142Focused effort 143Making time 149Tips and tricks 155Delegating 162Getting organised 170Habits 173Exercises 174

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CONTENTS

8 HEAD OFF PROBLEMS EARLY 175Crisis management versus crisis prevention 176Doing IT right the first time 180Spotting trouble up ahead 186Solving problems early 191Habits 193Exercises 194

9 FINISH THINGS 195Crossing the finish line 197Procrastination 203

Overcoming fear and frustration 209Cutting your losses 213Crumbs 216Habits 220Exercises 221

PART III: YOUR NEXT STEPS 223

10 PERSONAL CHANGE 225Maximising progress 225Assorted tips 226

APPENDIX: RATING PROGRESS ON HABITS 233Habit 1: Strive to be authentic 234Habit 2: Favour trusting relationships 235Habit 3: Maintain a lifestyle that will give you maximum

energy 236Habit 4: Listen to your biorhythms and organise your day accordingly 237

Habit 5: Set very few priorities and stick to them 238Habit 6: Turn down things that are inconsistent with

your priorities 239Habit 7: Set aside time for focused effort 240Habit 8: Always look for ways of doing things better and

faster 241Habit 9: Build solid processes 242Habit 10: Spot trouble ahead and solve problems

immediately 243

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CONTENTS

Habit 11: Break your goals into small units of work, andthink only about one unit at a time 244

Habit 12: Finish what’s important and stop doing what’s no longer worthwhile 245

References 246Index 251

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 3.1 The six steps to improving time management 50Figure 4.1 Subjective happiness and personal income(from davidmyers.org) 61

Figure 6.1 Example top five list 131Figure 7.1 Meeting checklist 158Figure 7.2 Rules for delegating 166

Table 3.1 Benjamin Franklin’s list of 13 virtues(Franklin 1993) 45

Table 6.1 Example list of tasks 123Table 7.1 An excerpt from my record of the way I spent

a day 152

xii



AUTHOR

Pat Brans provides corporate training on time management andpersonal effectiveness. He is also visiting professor at the GrenobleGraduate School of Business (GGSB).

Brans has held senior positions with three large organisations(Computer Sciences Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, and Sybase).Most of his corporate experience focused on applying technologyto enhance workforce effectiveness. Now he takes productivity toanother level by unveiling the secrets of high achievers.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Writing a book is a lot of work. You can’t easily do it alone; nor wouldyou want to. Getting feedback and fresh ideas from many knowledgeable people is an essential part of the process.

For this book I got a lot of help. First, I’d like to thank all the CEOsfeatured in this work. The book couldn’t exist without them.

For encouraging me to develop Master The Moment as a time management methodology, I thank Peter Wildhorn, Tom Brans, EmilyHuschen, Agnes Cadoux-Dubus, Jerry Cave, and Chin-Hsia Chang.

For helping me set up my business to provide training and seminars on time management, I thank the following people: BrigitteTreguer, Elisabeth Mantello, Nathalie Gary, Mikael Lund, and Anne-Laure Bernardin.

For making introductions to some of the CEOs featured in this book,

I’m indebted to Chris Elliot, Miles Faust, William Hydrick, CharlesMonteiro, Anna Brans, Henry Brans, Gloria Rall, Jennifer Hew, andBarbara Wolf.

For helping make this a better book, I also thank the followingpeople: Danielle Chiotti, John Biguenet, Patrick Mulvanny,Richard Zimmer, John Chancellor, Christina Rebuffet-Broadus, April Buchanan, and Trudi Penkler.

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ABBREVIATIONS

CEO Chief Executive OfficerSDT Self Determination Theory

xv



PREFACE

Do you have time to read this book? If so, you stand to gain a lotof excellent ideas from some of the world’s most effective people. If,on the other hand, you don’t think you have the time, maybe youshould stop whatever you’re doing and have a look. In these pageslie important ideas on how to get more out of your day – how touse your most precious resource more wisely.

Have you ever wondered why some people go through life frustrated,whereas others are able to accomplish most of what they set out todo without breaking a sweat? After all, each of us has the same number of hours per day. In fact, time might be the only resource that’sevenly distributed.

Yet, somehow, some people get so much more done. It’s almostas if they perceived time differently. To them, they are movingalong at a comfortable speed, getting things done with time leftfor family and personal hobbies. To a bystander they are zipping

past. The purpose of this book is to find out what makes thesepeople different – and to uncover a few of the secrets of some of the world’s highest achievers. You can put these ideas to workfor yourself and Master The Moment.

The tips you’ll find here come from chief executive officers (CEOs)with aggregate responsibility for over a trillion dollars, and millionsof people. They took time out of their busy schedules to talk to me

about time management and personal effectiveness. Take the timeto listen to what they have to say. I’m sure you’ll find this a worthwhile investment.

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PART I:THE RIGHT MINDSET

12 1 2 3 4

56

7 8 9 10

11

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HIGH ACHIEVERS1

‘There is a very important point in life that we ought to maximise.It is this moment. This moment is now gone.’

That’s what Frank Stewart told me when I asked for advice on timemanagement. He should know a few things about getting the mostout of every instant. After all, he grew his company, Stewart Enterprises, from a family business with 15 people in the suburbs of NewOrleans to a publicly traded multinational. At its peak his companyhad more than 6000 employees, and subsidiaries as far away asNew Zealand.

Frank went on to explain: ‘My profession is quite unusual. I’m inthe death care industry, where we sell products and services forfunerals, burials, and memorials. This means I’m in a business inwhich there is no way you can ignore the fact that time does runout. I see it all around me. Every one of us will die one day. This iswithout question.’

‘There are so many things I want to do,’ he said. ‘I easily fill the day.There just isn’t enough time to do it all. It’s because I have so muchto do – and because of my profession – that I am acutely aware of the limited nature of time. I think about time management constantly.’1

Frank went on to share some of his secrets on maximising the

moment. We’ll cover them throughout the book. But first let metell you where I’m coming from.

1 Exclusive discussion with Frank Stewart, April 2008.

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I started out my professional life as a software engineer andgradually moved into the business side of the technology industry.I spent the last 10 years of my time in high tech finding ways of making people more productive through the use of mobiletechnology.

It was satisfying to see how salespeople and technicians could getmore done thanks to the latest gadgets. Still, there was somethingmissing. Certainly mobile phones and laptops are tools that helppeople do things faster. But they don’t account for the differencebetween people who accomplish most of what they want and those

who go through life frustrated.

To shed some light on this I decided to talk to a group of peoplewho are very good at using their time: CEOs. After all, these people are responsible for running large organisations. They have tomanage a lot of money and a lot of people. To do their jobs andattend to their personal lives they have to be on top of their game.

I know most people aren’t trying to become CEOs. But top executives can teach us a lot about the human dynamics that apply tovirtually any job. And let’s not limit this discussion to work. Thesesame concepts are just as appropriate to your personal life.

For this book I spoke to 50 CEOs in a variety of industries andin different countries. I read the autobiographies of several otherchief executives. To top it off I researched what psychologists

and other experts have to say about motivation and personaleffectiveness. In these pages I hope to share with you all of theirgreat tips.

Let’s start out by taking a look at how much some people are ableto get done with their time.

WHAT SOME PEOPLE GET DONE

Some people have a tremendous capacity to get things done. Takefor example John Dane III, an Olympic athlete at the age of 58. Inthe summer of 2008 he competed at the Olympic games in Beijingas part of the US sailing team. He is also CEO of Trinity Yachts,

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a company that builds custom-made luxury yachts and sells themfor tens of millions of dollars around the world. On top of that he’sa minority partner in a second company that manufactures andsells navy patrol boats. John does things he’s passionate about. And he doesn’t give up easily. He first tried out for the Olympicsin 1968 and came in second. He has tried several times since, andfinally, 40 years later, he made it. In the meantime he completed aPhD in engineering, started a company, and raised a family.2

Another person who gets a lot done is Lucas Skoczkowski. Lucasexercises an hour and a half a day, he reads 50 books a year, he

speaks English, Polish, and French, and a little Swedish. He’scurrently learning Chinese and Arabic. While he’s not doing allthat or spending time with his family, Lucas runs Redknee, afast-growing high-tech company that sells equipment for mobilephone networks. By the way, Lucas is only 35 years old. He has agood sense of humour, and he doesn’t give me the impression thathe’s working himself to the point of exhaustion. On the otherhand, he’s very selective about where he applies his effort.3

Then there’s John Jamar, a marathon runner and a triathlete.He happens to be the CEO of CCI Systems, a fast-growing cablenetwork solution provider. What’s more, he is on the boards of directors of several non-profit organisations. John still has timeto spend with his family and is actively involved in the lives of his two sons. He also finds the time to hunt. John says being inshape has helped him tremendously. When you’re in great shape

you sleep well at night and you get through your days with awhole lot more energy.4

Certainly these three people are doing something right. They runsizeable companies, yet still they manage to have hobbies, raisefamilies, and get much more exercise than the average person does.

And what about people who overcome catastrophes and still comeout way ahead? They may be even better examples of good time

management.

2 Exclusive discussion with John Dane III, March 2008.3 Exclusive discussion with Lucas Skoczkowski, April 2008.4 Exclusive discussion with John Jamar, March 2008.

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Take for example Dan Packer, whose wife died of a rare liverdisease, leaving him alone to raise their two children. He wentthrough tough times as a single father, but in spite of the hardship he rose to the rank of general manager of a nuclear powerplant. Later he became CEO of Entergy New Orleans, a Fortune 500 energy company. An African-American growing up insegregated Alabama, Dan surely picked up some tools to helphim to deal with tough situations. More recently, his can-doattitude was demonstrated when he brought Entergy out of bankruptcy following Hurricane Katrina.5

What about Gertrude Boyle (Boyle with Tymchuk 2007), aGerman Jew who escaped Nazi Germany in the nick of time?She emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 with herfamily. When she was 47 her husband died of a heart attack,leaving her alone with three children and a small company torun. Her husband had just taken out a loan for $150,000 withthe house as collateral. Having been a stay-at-home mom up tothat point, she knew nothing about running a business. But the

situation was forced upon her. She had to dig deep to musterthe courage to rise to the occasion. Success didn’t come quicklyfor her, either. In the first few years she nearly ran the companyinto the ground. Creditors were pushing hard for her to sell itand get out of the business. But Gert learned from her mistakesand turned things around. In 2008 her company, ColumbiaSportswear, reported revenue of $1.3 billion!

I asked Gert how she managed to get through all of that and comeout smelling like a fresh bouquet of roses. She told me she didn’tconsider her situation that difficult. At first I thought she wasmaking it up, but I soon realised that what she had done was tochoose her perspective on catastrophic events. As difficult as hercrisis would appear to most people, to others who are dealt aneven less favourable hand it would have seemed relatively easy.She chose to take the second perspective: that her situation wasrelatively easy. She also chose where to focus her efforts. She went

on to say that she does not waste time and energy dwelling on thepast. Instead she thinks about what it is best to do now and in

5 Exclusive discussion with Dan Packer, October 2008.

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the future. To me Gert’s life is an excellent demonstration of thepower of managing your attitude, a topic we’ll cover in detail.6

Gertrude Boyle escaped Nazi Germany as a young teenager. Yearslater, when she was 47, her husband died of a heart attack, leavingher alone with two children and a small clothing business in direstraits. A homemaker with no experience in business, she turnedColumbia Sportswear into a billion-dollar global operation.

Does Gert think her situation was particularly difficult? Actually, shedoesn’t. Her attitude is to focus on the present and the future. Putyour effort into those things you can change. Make things bettertoday – and if you can’t do that, make them better tomorrow.

Let’s turn our attention to some of the CEOs of very large companies – let’s say, companies with over $5 billion in revenue.

How do they manage their time? Are they completely consumedby their jobs? I don’t think so. Consider the following examplesindicating that many of them have full lives outside their work.

Jean-Pascal Tricoire runs Schneider Electric, a $20 billionmultinational – among the 500 largest companies in the world.He is also an avid kayaker and adventure seeker. Jean-Pascal isalso married and has three children. Work is certainly not the

only thing in his life.

Most people have heard of Larry Ellison, who runs Oracle Corporation, one of the biggest software vendors in the world. Throughouthis adult life he has been an passionate practitioner of severalsports. These include body surfing, mountain biking, sailing, andaerobatics in decommissioned fighter planes.

And just about everybody on the planet knows about RichardBranson, who runs several companies in a variety of industriesunder the Virgin brand. His Virgin Group makes over $25 billion

6 Exclusive discussion with Gertrude Boyle, August 2008.

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a year and employs over 55,000 people. Yet he still finds the timeto engage in death-defying sports such as ballooning around theworld.

NATURAL ABILITY VERSUS GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT

Look around at people you know. Surely you’ve noticed that someget a lot more done than others do. What sets these people apartis not an overabundance of innate ability. Nature did not endowthem with more talent than many of the people around them

have. But don’t take my word for this. Listen to what some of theCEOs featured in this book have revealed about themselves.

Sandra Kurtzig struggled with mathematics in school. Sheovercame her difficulties by working on them, and later shemajored in mathematics in college. She went on to start and runASK Computer Systems, one of the first large software companies in the world. And she did it at a time when few women wereworking.

Her observation on why some people are more successful thanothers is: ‘They are the ones who can recover from bad ideasquickly and effectively, who are persistent and can parlay theirmistakes into success.’

Sandra Kurtzig has always been a slow reader. When she was inelementary school her parents were told she had an average IQ.In junior high school teachers said she wasn’t bright enough to bein the advanced mathematics class. That’s not to suggest that shedidn’t have some natural ability. She certainly did. But I thinkit’s safe to say she didn’t stand out as a genius at school. In anycase, what brought her further than most kids with far more

native ability were her determined efforts at self improvement.Sandra identified her weaknesses and found more efficient waysof learning the material that didn’t come easily to her. She wenton to get a university degree in mathematics. A few years latershe started a software company, ASK Computer Systems, that

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HIGH ACHIEVERS

she developed into one of the first major software companiesin the world. She did this while raising a family. And she did it inthe 1970s when fewer women worked outside the home. In fact,some men even openly stated they were hesitant to do businesswith her because of her gender. (Kurtzig with Parker 1994)

Then there’s Sam Walton, who started Walmart and made itinto one of the world’s largest companies. He worked hard andwas highly competitive, but there is nothing to indicate that hewas born with an extra dose of talent. In fact, in reference to hiseducation he said: ‘I wasn’t what you’d call a gifted student, but

I worked hard and made the honor roll.’ His attitude, and hisdetermination constantly to do better, made the difference.Throughout his life he set goals and worked towards achievingthem. (Walton with Huey 1992) David Glass, former CEO of Walmart, said this about his company’s founder: ‘Two thingsabout Sam Walton distinguish him from everybody I know.First, he gets up every day bound and determined to improvesomething. Second, he is less afraid of being wrong than anyone

I’ve ever known. And once he sees he’s wrong, he just shakes itoff and heads in another direction.’

The same goes for Ray Kroc, who made McDonald’s into the company it is today. He might have been a talented pianist (he startedhis professional career as a pianist in the speakeasies of the 1920s).But there’s no evidence to indicate that he was born a genius.Unsatisfied with his wages playing piano in bars, he then went on

to selling paper cups. Then he sold multi-mixers, which were usedto make several milkshakes at once. Among his biggest customerswere the McDonald brothers, who kept several multi-mixers operating at once in their hamburger restaurant in San Bernadino,California.

Ray Kroc wanted to multiply this success by creating similarrestaurants in other parts of the country. The idea was that themore McDonald’s restaurants there were in operation, the more

multi-mixers Mr Kroc would sell. So, with the agreement of theMcDonald brothers, at the age of 52, Ray Kroc began to franchiseMcDonald’s restaurants. This franchise business ultimately became the McDonald’s corporation – and you can put it all down totenacity. Mr Kroc made a lot of mistakes along the way. He stayed

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in debt for a long time. But, as everybody knows, he went on to runone of the most successful businesses ever. There is no indicationthat he had any unusual talent other than persistence and an ability to learn from his mistakes. (Kroc with Anderson 1977)

Now, going back to Richard Branson – the billionaire just abouteverybody on the planet has heard of – you might be surprisedto learn that he is dyslexic. In school he was at the bottom of the class in every subject. His learning disability followed himinto adulthood. Mr Branson says one of the things that wasembarrassing for him was that, although he was running all

sorts of companies around Europe, he couldn’t understand thedifference between gross revenue and net profit. It wasn’t untilhe turned 50 and somebody drew a picture for him, visually displaying the difference between gross and net, that he finally gotit! (Branson 2007)

Early in his career Lee Iacocca was shy and stilted. Throughfocused effort he overcame these handicaps and developed intosuch a good salesman that he rose to the rank of CEO of FordMotors. Later on he was chief executive of Chrysler.

Don’t get the idea that successful people are relying on naturalability. In the vast majority of cases they had to work at it and theyhad to overcome a lot of bad habits.

Let’s not forget about Lee Iacocca, who says of his first experiencein sales: ‘Some people think that good salesmen are born and notmade. But I had no natural talent. Most of my colleagues were alot more relaxed and outgoing than I was. For the first year or twoI was theoretical and stilted. Eventually I got some experienceunder my belt and started to improve. Once I had mastered thefacts, I worked on how to present them. Before long, people started

listening to me.’

Is this a surprising thing to hear from the man who became sucha good salesman that he rose through the ranks of Ford Motors tobecome CEO? Mr Iacocca also says he was bashful and awkward

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in the early days of his career. Needless to say, he managed tofind a way of overcoming that. (Iacocca with Novak 1984)

When I asked him about natural talent versus good time management, Lucas Skoczkowski insisted that most of the people aroundhim are smarter than he is. The CEO of Redknee thinks he needsto carefully listen to what they have to say, because they usuallyhave all the good ideas.

Lucas must be on the right track. After all, why would the CEObe the smartest or most talented person in the company? Anybody

who’s successful at leading an organisation knows that you onlyget ahead if you aren’t afraid to hire people who are smarter thanyou. Taking this idea to its logical conclusion, famous advertiserDavid Ogilvy once said – in his own politically incorrect way:‘If each of us hires people smaller than we are, we shall becomea company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people bigger thanwe are, we shall become a company of giants.’7

Reflecting on how they built The Home Depot into one of the mostsuccessful companies of our time, cofounders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank say something along the same lines: ‘One of ourgreatest accomplishments is hiring a cadre of people who aresmarter than we are and who will one day run this business without us – even better than we did – and not miss a beat.’ (Marcusand Blank 1999)

So it seems that people who get a lot done aren’t necessarily themost talented. What about those who are the most talented?Well, if you’re like me you probably know loads of brilliantunderachievers – people who, despite an abundance of naturalability, spend their lives wallowing in frustration. Talent isimportant, but it’s not the most critical factor in getting whatyou want.

What really sets high achievers apart is that they spend time think

ing of ways of becoming more effective. They are meta thinkers – that is, they think about how they think and act, with the intentionof making improvements. They apply their efforts where they can

7 Exclusive discussion with Lucas Skoczkowski, April 2008.

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make a difference, and recognise where there’s nothing they can doto produce a change. Through introspection and careful use of theirmost precious resource, time, they are able to make things happen.

The good news is that anybody can do this if they’re willing to puteffort into it. The trouble is that most people don’t.

Ray Titus, the CEO of United Franchise Group, told me: ‘One thingthat surprises me is there are a lot of people who don’t do anythingto improve their time management skills. They don’t go to a seminar; they don’t read a book on the subject. That’s very unfortunate,

because you can improve time management in almost every aspectof your life.’8

We’ve just covered a few of the powerful insights I gained from talking to CEOs. At this point you would certainly be justified in askingwhether these ideas are supported by something more scientific.Did I base what I’m telling you only on my extensive conversationswith top executives? Or can I back up what they told me with the

results of other studies – with something researchers have come upwith independently?

The answer is: I can. Scientists do support these ideas. And theyhave further insights to share.

Psychology researcher Carol Dweck (2006) has spent the last30 years of her working life studying what motivates people and

what elevates them to peak performance. She and other cognitivepsychologists have found that there is a clear distinction betweenpeople who set performance-oriented goals versus those who setlearning-oriented goals. The former group tends to do things toprove their current abilities. When they reach a goal, they view theachievement as validation of talent; but when they fail to reach agoal, they view the failure as a condemnation of their abilities. Bycontrast, those who set learning-oriented goals think they canbuild up skills over time to achieve increasingly challenging goals.

For learning-oriented people, winning or losing is not a statementof their self-worth.

8 Exclusive discussion with Ray Titus, July 2008.

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TIP #1

Think of any given task as something you can work towards andmaster by learning, rather than something that tests your innateabilities.

Dweck and colleagues have found that those people who are performance oriented and who also perceive their competence to below go through life feeling helpless. On the other hand, people who

are learning oriented set more challenging goals and work towardsthem without fear of being shamed by intermediate failure. In fact,for these people any failure along the way is viewed as a learningexperience. Because their ego is not tied to success or failure, theyare more effective.

This might be shocking news with regard to the group of people featured in this book: CEOs. I know there is a stereotype of the chief

executive officer with an ego the size of a planet. These are thebosses whose raison d’être seems to be stepping on the toes of thosearound them and proving they’re genetically superior. Certainly itis true in some cases, but the most successful are those whose self-esteem is strong enough not to have to tie success or failure to personal worth. These are the people who accept challenging goals andthen put their time to the best possible use in achieving those goals.They can relax in working towards what they want, because theirself-image is never at stake.

Perhaps Lucas Skoczkowski puts it best: ‘The less you have of something, the more you have to make conscious decisions on howyou are going to use it. Time is your most limited resource. Youhad better get selective in how you use yours.’

Lucas goes on to say: ‘CEOs may be ahead of the game, not becausethey are smarter but because they have identified the challenge of

time management and they find ways to get better at it. The limited nature of time is an obstacle standing in their way. The paththat leads them to discover the challenge is highly individual; andso is the set of tools they come up with to get beyond the obstacle.Hopefully, the tips in this book will serve as a catalyst to a large

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audience to allow them to spot the ways in which finite time posesa problem in their lives – and to find ways of maximising their useof their time.’9

Well put. Now let’s zoom in on some of the ideas high achieverscome up with.

EXERCISES

Before going on to the next chapter, try doing these exercises.They should be revealing. Be honest with yourself – after all,you’re the only one who will look at your answers.

i Make a list of some of the tasks you have worked on in therecent past – either in the context of work or in your privatelife – that you considered important, but that you either didn’tbring to completion or completed later than you thought youshould have.

a Next to each task, note the reasons why you didn’tcomplete it. For example, did you get distracted? Did youlose interest?

b Now, next to each of the tasks, write down what completing it was going to mean to you. Was it a way of showing offor revealing your talent? Was it something that you thoughtpeople might laugh at if it wasn’t perfect? The answers to

these questions are likely to explain what you put downduring the ‘a’ part of this exercise.

ii Make a list of important tasks you are working on now. Foreach task, if you don’t like the feeling you have about it, seewhat you can do to rethink your attitude. Challenge yourassumptions. Can you view it as something that doesn’tfundamentally change the way you and others see you?

9 Exclusive discussion with Lucas Skoczkowski, April 2008.

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iii Make a list of the separate roles you play in your life – forexample, a family member, a member of a club, a friend, a

hobbyist, or a professional. Note those areas where you thinkyou’re spending too much time and those where you aren’tspending enough.

iv Do you feel you spend an appropriate amount of time thinkingabout time management? Some people think about it toomuch, others not enough. What about you?

v List the things you would like to get out of this book.

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INDEX

advice, seeking, 33–35,189–191

American Reprographics,29, 30, 92, 129, 165, 183, 232

ASK Computer Systems,8 –9, 33

attitudeauthenticity, 70–71expectations versus goals,67–68

focus on the task at hand,65–67

honesty and sincerity,69–70, 80, 88

internal, 68–71keep cool, 63–64managing, 21–23, 62–68overcome fear andfrustration, 209–213

pitfalls of perfectionism,64–65

authenticity, 70–71habit, 88, 234

balanced life see work-lifebalance

Baumeister, Roy F. et al,43–44

behaviouracquiring new habits,41–49

internalising ideas,38–41

natural laws of, 18–21see also habits

biorhythms, 19, 106–110,111, 170, 237

Blank, Arthur, 11Blue Bell Creameries,105–106, 116, 166

Bouvier, Jean-René, 130,159, 162, 165, 192, 201–202

Boyle, Gertrude, 6 –7, 33,211–212, 228

Branson, Richard, 7 –8, 10, 64, 76, 110, 171–172, 229

Brenner, L., 31–32Buzzinbees, 130, 159, 162,165, 192, 201

Byrd, Charlice, 34–35,65–66, 72, 171, 212–213

Carter, James, 80, 94–95,125, 133, 176, 228

CCI Systems, 5, 91, 160Chaffin, Janice, 36, 78–79,101, 104, 145, 148–149, 156–157

Christensen, Juha, 103,107–108, 125–126,142–143, 158–159, 162, 164

Chrysler, 105cognitive psychology, 12 –13

problem solving at source,30–33

Columbia Sportswear, 6 –7, 33, 211communication

people, 77, 118–119, 215virtuous cycles, 26

Compliance TechnologyGroup, 40

computersmultitasking, 144–145prioritisation, 120–122

Cowen, Scott, 62, 69, 104,231

creativity, procrastinationin, 207–208

crisesallowing time for, 132preparing for, 183–185prevention versusmanagement, 176–180

Curves, 80, 83, 162,181–182, 216

Dane, John III, 4 –5, 69,82–83, 209–210

Davis, Todd, 47, 78, 83, 98,103, 115–116, 132, 139,187, 226–227

dead time, 153–155Deci, Edward, 39, 57, 61,162–163

delegating tasks, 24–25,

128, 162–169asking somebody to dosomething, 163–167

doing something for somebody else,167–169

rules, 166Self Determination Theory (SDT), 39

Dell, Michael, 150, 214Delta Airlines, 74, 147

Doimo, Daniel, 90–91, 96,103, 126, 132, 135, 155,231

Dow Chemical, 229down time, 104–106,107–109, 237

du Chaffaut, Gilles, 96, 106,109, 157, 160, 170–171,184, 208–209

Dweck, Carol, 12 –13

eating see nutrition

Eisenhower, Dwight D.,122

electronic calendars,161–162

Ellison, Larry, 7email, efficient, 159–160EMAK, 94, 172

251



emergenciesallowing time for, 132crisis prevention versuscrisis management,176–180

preparation for, 183–185emotions, 19, 20–21

cut a losing activity,213–215

Energizer Holdings, 22, 80,93, 108, 165, 188, 191

Entergy New Orleans, 6, 48,135–136, 164, 168, 199

Enzymatic Therapy, 188Esquivel, Manuel, 74,75–76, 98–99, 105, 136,147–148, 150, 189

exercise, 18, 91–95

habit, 111, 236Extended Systems, 35, 117,157

family life see lifestyle;work-life balance

fear, overcoming, 212–213,230

Ferrari, Joseph R., 205–206Ford Motors, 10 –11, 105Franklin, Benjamin, 103

list of 13 virtues, 44–46frustration, overcoming,209–212

Gates, Bill, 133–134Glass, David, 9goals

achieving, 196–202attitude, 67–68learning-oriented versusperformance-oriented,12 –13, 86, 228–230

setting, 85–87short tasking, 201–202,216–219, 220, 244

Goldman, Scott, 148,154–156, 160–161, 201

Graham, Andrew, 32–33,177

Grange, Thierry, 16, 19, 77,105, 124, 134, 137, 227

habits

acquiring new, 41–49authenticity, striving for,88, 234

Benjamin Franklin’s listof 13 virtues, 44–46

break goals into smallunits, 220, 244

build solid processes,193, 242

change throughvisualisation, 47–49

cut a losing activity, 220,245

doing things better and

faster, 173, 241energised lifestyle, 111,236

favour trustingrelationships, 88, 235

finish tasks, 220, 245learn to say ‘no’, 47, 140,239

organise day according tobiorhythms, 111, 170, 237

set few priorities and stay

focused, 140, 238solve problemsimmediately, 193, 243

time for focused efforts,173, 240

Hansel, Steve, 36, 79, 81,118, 129, 133, 185, 197,206–207

happiness, 57, 60–62Heavin, Gary, 80, 83, 162,181–183, 216

Hibernia Corporation, 36,81, 118, 185

high achieversgetting things done, 4 –8managing attitude, 21–23meta-thinkers, 11 –12, 232

natural ability versusgood time management,8 –14

Hirsch, Les, 145–146, 197,210–211

hobbies, 104–105Holbrook, Jim, 63–64, 94,105, 129, 133, 134, 172,207–208

The Home Depot, 11honesty, 69–70, 80, 88, 234

Iacocca, Lee, 10 –11, 105, 128Integrys Energy Services,149, 161, 228

IPW Group, 155

Jamar, John, 5, 91, 97, 134,160, 167

Jamba Juice, 96, 108, 117,128, 227

James, William, 20–21,42–43

Kahneman, Daniel, 29–30,179, 214

Kelleher, Herb, 28, 66, 186Kepner, Charles, 32Kepner-Tregoe, 177Kincannon, Louis 69, 77, 190Kinko’s®, 48, 115, 134, 171,

172Kirwan, Brit, 92, 96, 97,119, 129, 159–160, 186

Klein, Ward, 81, 93, 96, 165,191–192

Klinger, Eric, 137Koehler, H., 31–32Koerner, John, 84, 160Kroc, Ray, 9 –10, 101, 229Kruse, Paul, 83, 105–106,116, 166

Kurtzig, Sandra, 8 –9, 33

learning-oriented goals, 86,228–230

versus performance-oriented goals, 12 –13

LifeLock, 47, 83, 98, 115,187, 226

lifestyle, 28, 103–106Little, Brian, 207Loy, James, 70, 73, 184, 202

McDonald’s, 9 –10, 101Marcus, Bernie, 11meetings

checklist, 158efficient, 155–159minutes, 157

Mesa, Manny Perez de la,71, 138

Miller, George A. 130mission, 78–79, 117

defining, 56, 226–228

motivationextrinsic, 58–60intrinsic, 58–60learning-oriented goals,12 –13

Self DeterminationTheory (SDT), 39, 57–58

Mueller, Gordon ‘Nick’, 17,82, 116, 132, 216, 229–230

multitasking, 66, 143–148computers, 144–145

Myers, David, 60–61

National World War IIMuseum, 17

Novak, David, 22–23, 192nutrition, 18, 95–97

habit, 111, 236

252



Ochsner Health Systems,56, 77, 101, 117, 183, 227

Ogilvy, David, 11Oracle Corporation, 7Oreffice, Paul, 229Orfalea, Paul, 48, 115, 134,171, 172

Packer, Dan, 6, 48, 68, 70,135–136, 164–165,168–169, 189–190,197–199, 214–215

peoplecommunication, 77,118–119, 215

consistent style towards,78–79

differing perception, 73

fitting in, 76honesty and sinceritytowards, 69–70, 80

paying attention to,66–67, 118–119

prioritisation, 118–119respect, 19, 73–74, 78–79skills with, 72–73trust, 70, 80–85, 88, 235trying to be liked byeverybody, 74–76

see also stakeholdersperfectionism, 64–65,206–107

personal development,virtuous cycles, 26

personal life see lifestyle;work-life balance

physical wellbeing, 18, 19,28, 91–111, 236

planning, 125–134daily top five list,129–132

long-term, 128–129,185–186

to-do lists, 123, 126–128,171–172

unexpected events, timefor, 132

PoolCorp, 71, 138Porter Novelli, 23, 93,106–107, 115, 168

prioritisation, 114–140approaches, 121–122

computers, 120–122long-term planning,128–129

people time, 118–119planning, 125–134saying ‘no’, 136–140, 239staying focused, 134–140

types of priorities,117–119

urgent versus important,122–125

problem solvinganchoring bias, 31at source, 30–33

bias, 30, 31, 192category approach, 28–30facing problems head on,191–192, 193, 243

illusion of optimism, 31one-sided argument bias,31–32

wishful thinking, 31processes

building a solid process,180–183, 193, 242

that run by themselves,23–25, 193, 242

procrastination, 203–208creative work, 207–208methods, 206–207reasons for, 203–206versus letting things stew,209

quiet time, 127–128,132–134, 148–149

Quinlan, Patrick, 56–57,64–65, 77, 91–92, 101, 117,163, 170, 183, 227

Radtke, Mark, 130–131,149, 161, 228, 230

Ravannack, James, 40–41,118, 202, 212, 213

reading, efficient, 155–156Red Hat, 74, 94, 98, 110,146, 153, 185

Redknee, 5, 11, 37, 94, 100,

114, 146, 191risk management

crisis prevention versuscrisis management,176–180

doing it right the firsttime, 180–186

spotting trouble upahead, 186–191

Rose, Randy, 22, 35, 37, 105,108, 118–119, 128–129,

133, 187–189Ryan, Richard, 39, 57

Schneider Electric, 7, 90,126, 155

Schwabe North America,35, 105, 108, 118

Self Determination Theory(SDT), 39, 57–58

Simpson, Steve, 35, 117,157, 206

Skoczkowski, Lucas, 5, 11,13 –14, 37, 94, 97–98, 100,104, 108–109, 114,

123–124, 146, 148, 191,206, 229, 230, 232

sleep, 18, 97–102amount required,100–101

deprivation, 99–100habit, 111, 236

Smétanine, David, 26,218

Southwest Airlines, 28, 186stakeholders

learning the opinions of,188–189

time for, 35–36, 119see also people

Stewart Enterprises, 3, 34,60, 66, 124

Stewart, Frank, 3, 34, 60,66–67, 124–125, 201

Stockman, Gary, 23–24,93–94, 106–107, 115, 168

Superior Energy Services,40, 118

Surivakumar, K. (Suri), 29,30, 92, 103, 129–130, 165,183, 230, 232

sustainable systems, 27–28Symantec, 36, 78, 148Symbian, 103, 143

talentnatural ability versusgood time management,8 –14

teachinginternalising ideasthrough, 40–41

team building, 83–85telephone response,160–161

think time, 95, 127–128,132–134, 148–149

time managementchoosing the right thingsto do, 16–17, 115–125,

136–140cut a losing activity,213–216, 220

daily top five list,129–132

facing problems head on,191–192, 193, 243

253



getting to the point,149–150

habits see habitslearning-oriented goals,12 –13, 86, 228–230

letting things stew,208–209

lifelong improvement,230–232

making time, 149–155multitasking, 143–148optimising use of time,143–173, 240–241

organisational skill,170–171, 207

planning, 125–134prioritisation, 114–140procrastination,

203–208quiet time, 127–128, 132–134, 148–149

saying ‘no’, 47, 136–140, 230, 239

setting up processes to run by themselves,23–25, 193, 242

slowing down to go faster,36–37

to-do lists, 123, 126–128, 171–172

using dead time, 153–155time off, 105–106, 107–109, 237

Titus, Ray, 12, 27, 67–68, 97, 101–102, 104, 105, 127–128, 146, 150–151, 161, 177–178, 185–186, 199–200, 227–228

to-do lists, 123, 126–128,171–172

daily top five list,129–132

electronic calendars,161–162

Touro Infirmary, 197, 210Tregoe, Benjamin, 32Tricoire, Jean-Pascal, 7 Trinity Yachts, 4 –5, 69, 82–83, 210

trusting relationships, 70, 80–85, 88, 235

Tversky, Amos, 31–32, 179

United Franchise Group, 12, 27, 68, 97, 146, 177, 200

Virgin Group, 7 –8 visualisation, 47–49

Walmart, 9

Walton, Sam, 9 wasted time, 153–155wellbeing, 91–111, 236

physical, 18, 19, 28psychology of, 57, 60–62

White, James, 84–85, 96, 108, 117, 128, 137, 227, 229

Whitehurst, Jim, 74–75, 94, 96, 98, 110, 138–139, 146–147, 149, 153–154, 185

Wildhorn, Peter, 155Wilson, T.D. et al, 31Winnicott, Donald 71work-life balance, 28, 36, 103–106

workaholics, 28

Yum! 22, 192

254



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