This book applies to you, the hard worker.
chaotic projects, poor communication, and other barriers to getting things done.
Because work doesn’t have to be a four-letter word.
You may work for a company that claims to demonstrate an “open workspace” until you notice that the cube walls are taller than you and the floor looks like a labyrinth. Or the workspace is physically open but the people interact as if they’re surrounded by walls.
Every industry fights the battle against jargon and meaningless words. The people within an industry have a weird zombie or Stepford-wife-like acceptance of these words. We believe that deep down, we all rationally know these words have no intrinsic meaning, yet we all irrationally accept these words and phrases used in the context of our jobs. We accept their use, we use them ourselves, and we subconsciously add new ones to our mouths all the time. These absurd words and phrases even leak into our personal lives.
Creative directors, account planners, strategists, and everyone else—no one is bad because of their title. These positions grew out of a need to get the work done as the type of work we do changes.
If your job at a creative agency or business consultancy involves producing work, your schedule and how you spend your days is out of your control most days. Your time is often booked with endless meetings, constant reviews, and if you find yourself working somewhere that has adopted a twisted form of “agile,” then you are screwed, really screwed.
You would never try to hammer a nail with a pencil. Yet a common source of frustration at many companies is that they are using the wrong tool for the job. Or using the same tool to do two very different things as a cost-cutting measure. You need a hammer to hammer and a pencil to write, but the two are not interchangeable.
Rena Tom is the founder of Makeshift Society, a coworking space and clubhouse in San Francisco, with a new location in Brooklyn. She believes in camaraderie and creativity as essentials to make a great workplace and to do great work. Her support of independent professionals has been featured in publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Real Simple.
such as best-selling author Sara Paretsky and Oscar-winning musicians The Swell Season.
He conceived, designed, and self-published BROKEN, in addition to sharing how it was made at his blog.
Stephanie Di Biase is a designer who runs design studio Ways & Means. Never shy of business problems, she delivers an aromatic blend of user-experience street smarts and creative bling for her clients. She loves designing things that people actually want or need. Most of which have been digital in nature.
Diligently tested and enhanced for reading with Amazon Kindle, and Apple iBooks app on iPad. It should work on most eBook readers, including Nook and Kobo.
You will be brought to print-on-demand service TheBookPatch.com to get a well-made copy: tactile, lean, handy, and especially in this case, potentially productive.