Doing the Right Things Right

Laura Stack, aka The Productivity Pro(r), offers an up-to-date guide packed with advice to help busy executives make sure they are both efficient and effective

Inspired by Peter Drucker's classic The Effective Executive, Laura Stack offers a productivity bible for the 21st century. She focuses on time management strategies today's executives can use to quickly obtain profitable, productive results by managing the intersection between two critical values: effectiveness and efficiency.

Effectiveness, Stack says, is identifying and achieving the best objectives for your organization-doing the right things. Efficiency is accomplishing them with the least time, effort, and cost possible-doing things right. If you're not clear on both, you're wasting your time. As Drucker put it, "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

Stack identifies twelve practices that will enable executives to be effective and efficient, grouped in three broad areas: strategy, teamwork, and tactics. For each practice she offers tips, techniques, and advice based on her work with individuals and organizations all over the world. There are dozens and dozens of great ideas here for making your organization, your team, and yourself vastly more productive.