NEW BOOK
“The Art of Business: Make All Your Work a Work of Art,” by Stan Davis and David McIntosh, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $19.95
What you’ll learn: Work doesn’t need to be about the process of what you do. Make it about what you can create.
In the science piece of economics, land, labor and capital are the basic economic inputs that need to be put to work. But the inputs of the creative side are imagination, intelligence, emotion and experience. The creative process involves connecting with internal and external customers–sharing, meaning and satisfaction.
Anyone can be a business artist. All it takes is the ability to ask questions and the time to find answers.
What kinds of questions? Those that make you and your team think about “why,” “why not,” “what if,” and “how could we.”
–Jim Pawlak, BizBooks
NEW BOOK
“Time Traps: Proven Strategies for Swamped Salespeople,” by Todd Duncan, Nelson Business, $22.99
What you’ll learn: While aimed at business-to-business salespeople, Duncan’s eight traps and how to avoid them translate to anyone who’s forgotten what the bottom of their inbox looks like.
Dealing with interruptive tasks–like responding to the “ping” of every instant message/e-mail alert and answering the phone when you’re in the middle of something–wastes time.
What can you do to manage these traps? Block out 15 minutes of each hour to deal with work-related voice mail and e-mail. Review and prioritize your order of response. Use the last half-hour of the day to respond to non-urgent calls and e-mails.
–Jim Pawlak, BizBooks
