Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less

A life’s mechanical functioning is a result of the systems that compose it.

The world is not a chaotic jumble of people, objects, and events clanging together in disarray. The world is a place of order and logic, a place of predictability. The world is a collection of logical systems!

At best, a system combines efforts with other systems to help us reach desired targets. At worst, an errant component within a system creates problems that manifest themselves chaotically, chronically, and often subversively, contributing to the feeling that one is not in proper control of one’s life. That out-of-control feeling is not rare: Many p

Despite the almost visceral societal belief to the contrary, there is a direct connection between happiness and the amount of control we attain.

In other words, the business systems I would fix and/or create would have to function without direct moment-to-moment supervision by me, the majority owner, general manager, and CEO of the company.

most see problems as overwhelming in number: an onslaught from “out there,” only to be fended off by superhuman efforts.

Few people think their problems are a result of system failure. Most see their troubles as isolated events, blaming fate, horoscopes, bad luck, karma, God, the devil, neighbors, competitors, family members, the weather, the president, Congress, liberals, conservatives, global warming, too much TV, lack of money, too much money, the educational syst

Who knows what that voice mail–inundated young man does for a living, but I tell you this: He is mismanaging things if his world can’t proceed for a single week without his direct influence; if the myriad systems in which he is involved all come to a halt when he is not available.

What is the most important difference between the manager of a large successful business and the manager of a small struggling business? The first manages systems; the second copes with bad results.