Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More

They consider the perspective of opponents

The best performers advocate properly: They craft an opinion, argue their case with vigor, outline its weaknesses and assumptions, listen to other points of view, debate the issues, and change their mind if warranted.

The value of a person’s work = Benefits to others × quality × efficiency

To maximize your collaboration’s chances of success, you need a forcing mechanism to assure that your collaboration receives sufficient time, effort, and financial support.

“putting yourself in the other’s place is one of the best ways to advance your own agenda.”

“cognitive empathy,” which we can define as the capacity to understand another’s perspective or mental state.

Then forge unity: tell yourself to support a decision even if you disagree, and ask a colleague to do the same.

Attaining that quality demands obsession—and focus.

Tie yourself to the mast: Set clear rules ahead of time to fend off temptation and distraction.

strong positive association between experimentation and excellent performance.