The Truth About Writing a Book (Part 1)

There’s news.

Bad news.

You should NOT write a book.

People tell you you should.

You’ve thought about it. (Often.)

But…

You’re. Just. Too. Busy.

“With what, though?” says a little voice in your head.

Important things.

“Like what?”

Like serving your customers.

“And?”

Managing people. (Contractors, your team or your Incredible Expanding To-Do list.)

“Anything else?”

The big one…

“The big one?”

Finding and winning new clients.

That’s it, then. Case closed.

You’re right.

There’s no chance of your writing a book.

You’re so busy.

Except...

Enter Sumantra Ghoshal.

He was an amazing professor at London Business School. I say was, because he died just a few years after I joined the School. At the age of 55.

Anyhow, he wrote a great article (with Heike Bruch) in Harvard Business Review.

Called Beware the Busy Manager. Maybe you’ve read it.

If you haven’t you should. Here’s a link to it in HBR.

If you don’t have time to read it – which is ironic, but I understand – here he is with the key points in a 42-second TV spot he made for CNN.

He talks fast, so watch it again. (I’ll wait.)

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.

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Here’s the chart he drew on the blackboard.

Study it. Read the caption. Take it in.

What you’re looking for in your life and work, then, is purposeful action. A focus on something significant for you (like writing a book) and the energy to pull it off.

Not the pointless busy-ness (action for its own sake) that we seem to become addicted to.

Brent Peterson brutally calls this busy-ness Fake Work, and he’s only half joking. (I'll write more about fake work another time. It’s more dangerous than you imagine.)

By the way, if you want more on purposeful action, there’s a whole book on it – A Bias for Action. If you’re struggling for time in your day-to-day it’s outstanding. (Put it on your Amazon wishlist.)

OK. Let’s say for a minute that you’re swayed by Ghoshal. Maybe you’re one of the purposeful 10% and you can focus your time and energy on writing a book.

How?

I'll share how I do this, together with Jacqueline Moore, my wife and business partner, very soon. You might find it useful.

But the question you need to focus on right now is why?

Why write a book?

Because writing a book must be a strategic priority.

Otherwise you just won’t clear the decks.

(And just to be clear, writing a book should be nothing to do with your ego.)

So let’s look at why you should write a book.

What makes writing a book a strategic priority for you?

And here’s something else to think about: writing a book can actually SAVE you time.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

THE STORY SO FAR

• Many managers hate busy-ness, but can’t stop. It’s like a drug.
• We are hardwired to want action and execution, to make maximum use of our limited time. Yet only 10% of us spend our time in purposeful action.
• I’m not passing moral judgment on your personal style, but you won’t be able to write a book unless you can focus on how your book meets the strategic priorities for your practice or business.
• Surprise: writing a book can refocus your work and save you time.

NEXT TIME: Learn how writing a book actually saves time.

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For transparency this post will also appear on my blog at Authors Channel