Work the System

The Simple Mechanics of Working Less and Making More

By Sam Carpenter

Table of Contents

Preface

PART ONE

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12

It's Simple Mechanics.....................................................................

The Mindset.....................................................................................

The Simple Solution............................................................................
The Dark Side of Flower Power...........................................................
A System of Systems...........................................................................
The Attack of the Moles......................................................................
Gun-to-the-Head Enlightenment.........................................................
Execution & Transformation................................................................
System Revealed, Systems Managed.................................................
Getting It.............................................................................................
Swallowing the Horse Pill.....................................................................
Calming the Storms............................................................................
We Are Project Engineers...................................................................
Now, This is How it Is...........................................................................

ix

1

3
15 27 36 44 64 72 88 97 104 110 123

PART TWO

Chapter 13
Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Critical Documentation.....................................................................

At the Heart of the Matter: The Strategic Objective..............................
Guidelines for Decision Making: General Operating Principles..............................................................................................
The Stodgy Cure for Workplace Chaos: Working Procedures...........................................................................................

131

133

138

146

PART THREE

Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26

Further Considerations...................................................................

Good Enough......................................................................................
Errors of Omission...............................................................................
Quiet Courage.....................................................................................
Point-of-Sale Thinking.........................................................................
Extraordinary System Operated by Great People................................
Consistency and Cold Coffee..............................................................
Communication: Grease for the Wheels..............................................
Prime Time..........................................................................................
The Traffic Circles of Pakistan.............................................................
System Improvement as a Way of Life.................................................
A Vision to Cultivate.............................................................................

169

171
180
187
192
201
209
220
229
247
253
258

Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E

The Tools of Control..........................................................................
Ockham's Law and the Long-Term Employee....................................
Reading List.......................................................................................
Other Offerings...................................................................................
Kashmir Family Aid.............................................................................

261
264
271
273
273

“One should choose the simplest explanation,
the one requiring the fewest assumptions and principles.”
—Sir William of Ockham, medieval philosopher

Preface

It’s Simple Mechanics

I work the system. And not just one: I work all the systems in my control— social, work, financial, biological, mechanical. You have your own systems. Do you see them? Do you control them?

It doesn’t matter if you are a CEO, employee, stay-at-home mom or dad, retiree, or student. Your life is composed of systems that are yours to control— or not control.

In the slang sense, someone who “works the system” uses a bureaucratic loophole as an excuse to break rules in order to secure personal gain. But winning the life-game includes following the rules because if we don’t, any win is a ruse. My bet is that you agree with these terms so be assured you will find nothing deceitful or unsavory in these pages. I’ll take this qualifying thread a bit further to say the Work the System methodology has nothing to do with esoteric theory and doesn’t concern itself with our Western culture’s overzealous and too-sensitive PC sentiments. Politics or religion don’t factor into the message either. This is about common sense and simple mechanics.

At the risk of committing a PC blunder, I call this a working man’s philosophy.

Life is serious business and whether you know it or not, or whether you like it or not, your personal systems are the threads of the fabric of your life. Together, your personal systems add up to you. And if you are like most people, you negotiate your days without seeing them as the singular entities they are, some working well and some not working well.

In the complexity that is your life, what if you could distinctly see each of these systems? Then, what if you could reach in and pluck a not-so-perfect system out of that complexity, make it perfect and then reinsert it? What if you could perform this process with every system that comprises your life?

What if, piece by piece, you could re-engineer your life to make it exactly what you want it to be without having to count on luck, providence, blind faith, or someone else’s largesse?

The foundational thrust of Work the System is not to educate you in the “10 steps to peace and prosperity,” or to warn you of the “5 most common mistakes in seeking happiness.” The method digs deeper than that. Work the System will cause a mechanical adjustment in your perception of life—a modification in the way you see your world. And when this quiet yet profound shift occurs (you will remember the exact moment you “get it”), the simple methodology will make irrefutable sense and you will never be the same.

The book will also provide a framework—yes, a compendium of do’s and don’ts—to channel this new perspective so you can get what you want out of your life.