Five Questions With 'Great At Work ' Author Morten Hansen
Morten Hansen
Morten T. Hansen is a management professor at University of California  Berkeley. Formerly a professor at Harvard Business School and INSEAD (France)  professor Hansen holds a PhD from Stanford Business School  where he was a Fulbright scholar.  Hansen  was also a manager at the Boston Consulting Group  where  he  advised corporate clients worldwide.  He  is the coauthor (with Jim Collins) of the New York Times bestseller Great by Choice and the author of the books Collaboration and Great at Work. We caught up with  him  to discuss the latter book.
Courtesy of Morten  Hansen 
 Morten Hansen : I think it owes  in some part  to ingrained norms  in particular our enduring workplace traditions. Although we live in an age of perpetual âdisruption â so much of how people work today is old  born at the dawn of the industrial revolution. The dreaded performance review  for instance  dates from at least the 1940s and draws intellectually from Frederick Taylorâs work on scientific management during the early 20th century. Ethical codes and other rules of professional conduct originated in the 19th century  when modern professions were first taking shape. Technology is now upending many of these conventions  and many people are pushing beyond âbusiness as usualâ and questioning how work gets done. And yet  change is slow  and much of the traditional edifice of work remains in place.
 Hansen : In Great at Work  I set out four âwork smarterâ practices that relate directly to how well individuals get their own work done. In organizing our efforts  for instance  we can choose to restrict the scope of our work and to obsess to excel over the few priorities weâve selected (a practice I call âDo Less  Then Obsessâ). Of course  that is not easy to do when people constantly ask for help  request meetings  and when your boss keeps on giving you more to do. The best handle this by becoming good at saying âno.â Thatâs a key skill to learn to succeed in todayâs hectic workplace.
 Hansen : When I began the research described in this book  I posed a simple question: Why do some people perform better at work than others? As my study progressed  and the answers to this question came into focus  I noticed an interesting pattern: Many of the top performers my research team and I interviewed  the ones who embraced the seven âwork smarterâ practices outlined in the book  realized benefits that extended well beyond their work performance. They were less stressed out  more balanced  and more satisfied with their job.
Morten T. Hansen is a management professor at University of California  Berkeley. Formerly a professor at Harvard Business School and INSEAD (France)  professor Hansen holds a PhD from Stanford Business School  where he was a Fulbright scholar.  Hansen  was also a manager at the Boston Consulting Group  where  he  advised corporate clients worldwide.  He  is the coauthor (with Jim Collins) of the New York Times bestseller Great by Choice and the author of the books Collaboration and Great at Work. We caught up with  him  to discuss the latter book.
Courtesy of Morten  Hansen 
  [TGT]  : I think it owes  in some part  to ingrained norms  in particular our enduring workplace traditions. Although we live in an age of perpetual âdisruption â so much of how people work today is old  born at the dawn of the industrial revolution. The dreaded performance review  for instance  dates from at least the 1940s and draws intellectually from Frederick Taylorâs work on scientific management during the early 20th century. Ethical codes and other rules of professional conduct originated in the 19th century  when modern professions were first taking shape. Technology is now upending many of these conventions  and many people are pushing beyond âbusiness as usualâ and questioning how work gets done. And yet  change is slow  and much of the traditional edifice of work remains in place.
 Hansen : In Great at Work  I set out four âwork smarterâ practices that relate directly to how well individuals get their own work done. In organizing our efforts  for instance  we can choose to restrict the scope of our work and to obsess to excel over the few priorities weâve selected (a practice I call âDo Less  Then Obsessâ). Of course  that is not easy to do when people constantly ask for help  request meetings  and when your boss keeps on giving you more to do. The best handle this by becoming good at saying âno.â Thatâs a key skill to learn to succeed in todayâs hectic workplace.
 Hansen : When I began the research described in this book  I posed a simple question: Why do some people perform better at work than others? As my study progressed  and the answers to this question came into focus  I noticed an interesting pattern: Many of the top performers my research team and I interviewed  the ones who embraced the seven âwork smarterâ practices outlined in the book  realized benefits that extended well beyond their work performance. They were less stressed out  more balanced  and more satisfied with their job.