All right. So let's do another question here. We got one from Jeffrey. Jeffrey says, should I stay at a job where the management actively tries to stifle productivity? Context is important here. Looking at the elaboration, Jeffrey has been at this job for eight years. I'm just thinking about that.

That would be funny if this was a question from Jesse. And it was Jesse being like, how do I get out of a position where my manager is so unproductive and makes me unproductive? And it was just a passive aggressive way of getting back at me. And it turns out I'm a terrible boss that's really chaotic and disorganized.

All right. All right, Jeffrey. You've worked there for eight years. They manipulate-- your managers manipulate your workloads by assigning them at random times that are very disadvantageous, like Friday afternoons or afternoons before I leave to take the day off. It's good paying benefits. But he's getting frustrated because it's our fault.

I mean, we have been infecting poor Jeffrey here with visions of how knowledge work can actually unfold, ways that's not overloaded, ways that's not stressful, ways in which you are in control of your time. And you're moving the needle and getting things done, but on your own terms. You're not overworked.

You're not overstressed. And he's learned that that's all possible. And he turns around, and his boss is like, I'm going to need you to come in on Saturday. We're in Lumberg territory. It's an office space reference. All right, what do we do about this? Jeffrey, here's what I'm going to suggest.

Don't leave your job right away, but I'm going to make you more rigid. I'll explain how in a second. If that blows up, if the Lumberg in your life says, no way, I said I need this tomorrow, get it done, then you start looking somewhere else. And you can be confident that it was a good thing to do.

So here's what I mean by getting more rigid. Get your systems in place and enforce them. So in this case, you need a system-- and this is something I've been working on recently and some of my thinking that I haven't published a lot yet. So I'm giving you some ideas that are hot off the presses.

I'm a big believer in this external work system approach, where instead of just in knowledge work, thinking about all things that need to be done as existing on individual people's plates. We just throw these around on the people's plates. Jeffrey, do this. Now it's on your plate, and I don't have to worry about it.

Hey, Jesse, you do this. Now it's on your plate, I don't have to worry about it. I'm a big believer in having an external system into which work that needs to get done goes, and that people then pull work out of that external system as they have the appropriate time to do it.

I think this is actually probably the right structure for work assignment in most knowledge work scenarios. A good external system has a few things to it. One, a good filter. So it's really clear, like here's a different type of work that could come into the system, and it has to go through these properly shaped portals.

And if your work doesn't fit, then it doesn't go in. So you're making the person assigning the work do more work. Two, there's a real organizational ethic inside of the system, how the work gets organized and prioritized. That's thoughtful. And three, status is really clear to anyone who cares.

All right, this thing I put into the external system, it's been organized. No one's working on it yet, but it's relatively high on the priority list. Probably someone will get to it in the next two weeks. I think in the end, that's what most knowledge work organizations need. Now, Jeffrey, they're not going to do this.

So I want you to simulate this with yourself. I want you to basically imagine that you have an external system you can control where work comes in through these holes, it gets organized. If it doesn't fit, then it can't come in. And clear status is given to the people who care about it.

And then there's what you're actually working on this week and this day. And you work on a reasonable amount of stuff until it's done, and then you pull more stuff out of this system. And how do you simulate something like this? I mean, I'm still working out the details, but a few different things.

So how do you simulate that clear filter on what comes in? Well, someone put something on your plate that is half-baked, and they don't give you all the information, and they're just playing obligation hot potato and just trying to get it off their plate because it's on their head and they don't want it to be on their head.

You say something like, all right, I'm happy to take this on board. This is the information I'll need. That's back to them. So they'll have to give you and get you that information. If you really want to push it here, you can involve processes here. You can say, I'm happy to take this on board.

There's a bunch of questions that would need to be resolved for me to really understand what you need here. Please, I have these clear office hours. So whenever is convenient for you, you just jump on one of these. Here they are. And I'll get from you all the information I need.

Or here's my Calendly. Take a 30-minute slot, and that's where I'll get all the information I need. So now you are having these carefully shaped portholes in which information can come in that if it doesn't have everything you need, it's not coming in the system. None of this like, hey, Jeffrey, can you see what we need to get this client's reimbursement up to date or something?

Like, no, no, no, no. Let's figure out exactly what that means. And you can use processes and systems there. Two, OK, once they're in the system, make its status really clear to people. All right, I've taken this into my queue. I'm looking at my queue now. And there's like three or four things ahead of this.

So my best guess is probably it'll be a week from now before I can get to it without changing priorities on the queue. Now, this means you've got to have this information really well put together. You've got to have a keeping track of everything, what I'm working on. You've got to have your act together, Jeffrey, if you're going to pull this off.

But you're giving them that good status update. And then from an organizational perspective, you're keeping it really clear. All the things, all the information, their status. Use a Trello board for this. Like, here's the stuff that I have all the information. Here's the stuff I'm waiting to hear back on.

Here's the relative priority. And you've got to be very careful in your weekly and daily planning to be pulling things from this list and actually getting the things done and being reliable. And they can depend on you. You can get idiosyncratic credits, idiosyncrasy credits. That's the term. It's an Adam Grant term.

You can get those credits, the ability to do things weird if you actually deliver. If you don't deliver, then you get no leeway. And then actually, there it is. The stuff's in my system. I pull out what's reasonable for the week. They don't have the option anymore of saying, it's Friday afternoon, get this done by Saturday morning.

And if they want to push back, they can push back. But they have to push back on your system. And they have to say, I don't want to have to give you that information. If they say, no, I want this, whatever, you're like, OK, but let me just tell you, these are the things that have to get moved to lower priority.

They have to confront how much time you actually have available. One of two things will happen. One, they will say, Jeffrey's great. He's been here eight years. He delivers. He's awesome. We don't want to lose him. I really just wanted clarity anyways. I mean, I-- and here I'm simulating the boss.

I'm really disorganized. I hate having things in my head. I throw things on your plate as soon as I think about them, because I don't want to have to worry about them. So long as I know I can trust you, oh, it's in your system, you have the information, it's going to happen in two weeks, and fine.

I don't have to think about it. You do you. Or they say, no, no, no, no. Like, forget that. You need to just respond to me and do everything right when I say it. And then, Jeffrey, you have the information you need that it's time to find a different position.

It might be quitting that job. It might be changing your position within that company so that you're much more independent, where you're trading performance for freedom. All right, I'm going to be more like a consultant. Pay me by my performance, but you can't bother me. Whatever you need to do, but give that a try.

Give the external system a try. You might be surprised how much they'll put up with. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)