Great At Work

Great At Work examines what it takes to be a top performer and gives practical advice to achieve significant results at work while maintaining an excellent work-life balance.

Many of us believe the key to success is working hard and putting in long hours day after day. After he graduated, Morten Hansen was one of these people.

For some years he worked 60-90 hours per week and neglected his private life and health. That was until he discovered his teammate Nathalie had better results than him and never left the office after 6 p.m. or worked on weekends.

Despite Hansen’s experience, the overworked, stressed-out, high-achiever paradigm is still a stereotype often portrayed in movies. These individuals neglect their personal concerns for business interests. However, Hansen’s research shows that you don’t have to voluntarily give up your time away from work to get great results. You can do it while maintaining work-life balance!

His team discovered that the main feature of top performers is selectivity. While most productivity experts suggest prioritizing, Hansen goes beyond. If you want to excel, he says, you need to evaluate carefully which activities are worth your time.

Top performers apply the “do less, then obsess” principle. They are very selective about goals, ideas, and collaborations. Once they have chosen to undertake a specific project, they commit to producing high-quality work.

As the author says:

Hansen’s research has brought some unexpected findings.

A popular assumption is that you can achieve greatness only by doing what you love. The author even confirms that people passionate about their jobs are more likely to perform better.

But fascination alone doesn’t suffice. Only people who adopt the “P-squared approach” and match passion with purpose do perform great.

We need to feel useful. We can do our best only if we find a role that provides value to other people, thus experiencing satisfaction and well-being at work. The very best performers in the study rethought their work to create the most value. Some designed new roles for themselves, while others launched a new business inside their current company.

Morten Hansen has also questioned the popular idea that you need to practice for 10,000 hours to master a skill. He says that’s not what top performers do. The best way to become smarter while working is to apply the “learning loop.” Regularly ask for feedback about what you do and use it to fine-tune your processes.

Never give up learning while working! Even if you need to accomplish the same activities every day, explore new ways of doing them. This is the “Quality learning” principle: avoid mindless repetitions to keep improving your skills.