Work the System (Fourth Edition)

The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less

By: Sam Carpenter

Narrated by: Sam Carpenter

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

A simple mindset tweak will change your life.

It started with a midnight insight. After a 15-year nightmare of coping with his struggling business, Sam Carpenter discovered and then developed a simple methodology that knocked his routine 80-hour workweek down to zero, while multiplying his net income by a factor of 100. Now, in 2021, here’s his best-selling business book, revised yet again, showing how you too can instantly break free to build the business and life of your dreams.

In this fourth edition of Work the System, Carpenter reveals the profound insight and exact uncomplicated, mechanical steps he took to turn his business - and his life - around. Once you “get” this new vision, success and serenity will come quickly. You will learn to:

• Make a simple perception adjustment that will change your life forever.
• See your world as a logical collection of linear systems that you can control.
• Manage the systems that produce results in your business and your life.
• Stop fire killing and become a fire-control specialist.
• Maximize profit, create client loyalty, and develop enthusiastic employees.
• Identify insidious “errors of omission.”
• Maximize your biological and mechanical “prime time” so that you are working at optimum efficiency.
• Design the life you want - and then, in the real world, create it!

You can keep doing what you’ve always done and continue getting unsatisfactory results. Or you can find the peace and freedom you’ve always wanted by transforming your businesses or corporate department into a finely tuned machine that runs smoothly and profitably on autopilot.

©2021 Sam Carpenter, Josh Fonger (P)2021 Greenleaf Book Group

Great book despite slow start

Thoroughly enjoyed this book however I got a bit bored in the beginning when the introduction took forever! It delivers just before the end and is worth reading for anyone who read emyth.

I wasn't impressee.

I get his point, but it dragged on too long for me to stay interested. instead of being straightforward, he beat around the bush in a way. It was just too stretched out to stay interested. A lot of people recommend this book, but it's not for me.

Needs some serious editing

The content of the book is good. I've read/listened to several now on process management and process development for business. What's in this book helped fill in the gaps on some of the things I was trying to discover.

But holy cow... this book would have seriously benefited from having an editor who was ruthless.

There is more fluff in the book than a Build A Bear. Seriously... I don't need to hear how Sam was a basket case, divorced, living in a couch in the office, etc., etc., 92 times... and then in an epiphany he discovered processes...

I get it. First, I don't care. Second the WIIFM on this is I want to solve my problem - making business processes. Look, you already have my money - I bought into the idea you might have knowledge about how to solve my problem. I don't need 9 hours of you going on and on "things were never easy for me - I was born a poor black child" (since the author loves movies so much).

It gets in the way of actually getting any useful information out of this book. Now, some folksy narrative - ok fine. But wow, I get it was traumatic... but again - I don't care. I'm glad you figured out life and wrote the book. But again - I don't care about how hard it was for you. You don't have to sell me that you know what works... at least not like 9 times across 15 chapters. I got it. Just tell me the "process" for deriving the answer already...

So, if you're willing to skip around and hunt and peck (thank Christmas for that feature)... it's not a half-bad book.

If an editor had a clue... and beat on the author relentlessly to make a cogent narrative and get to the "pickle" earlier on ... it would have been an amazing book.

Game Changer.

I was referred to this book by another business friend. Before I buy any audiobook, I always look at the negative reviews. I was concerned when I read the negative reviews for this, but decided to do it anyway. I’m so glad I did.

For context, I’m the CEO of a company that has been independently voted top in the world 4x in a row for the last 4 years in our industry. I’m always looking for new insights and read business books daily. I pay for a high-end EOS consultant to help us with Traction. I pay for Strategic Coach and actively use the program. I’ve also been a finalist in the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year. I share all that info because I have had a lot of exposure to business tools and thinking.

This book is a game changer. The information is not new, BUT the presentation of it is outstanding. It will make you realize how important it is to get your business systems set up right… enough realization to actually make the changes and get it done. And that’s where change happens. I bought this for my leadership team. We’re taking things to the next level.

I highly recommend this book if you want to play the game of business and win. Game on!!! By the way, the audio version is my favorite way to “read” this book.

Game Changer in business.

The mindset, once developed, will forever change your business and personal life. We have taken it to the next level and now have Josh Fonger as a mentor. We truly are making more and working less. Implement, implement, implement! No more fire killing 🔥

Great value, slow rolling

The book had a great point and I love the systems based mentality. however it was very slow moving to get to the point. it seemed at some points that there was a stretch for word count. The book has a great value though for pounding the importance for great systems and that alone is worth the 5 star

Painful to listen to…..

I listened and never seemed to get to the point. Rambled on and on stories that were annoying. One of my least preferred purchases of all time!

Great concept but

I do like and believe in the concept.

What I was looking for and expecting was a dot to dot how to which I didn’t hear being narrated rather than an epilogue upsell of contact us for more

Beyond bored

I've been listening for roughly an hour now and its STILL on the intro and talking about the author's background that is so pointless to hear for so long.

I'm not the type to get bored easily when listening to an audible, but if it wasn't for other reviews saying the same thing and to just skip to Part 3, I would've simply stopped reading the book.

So far I've learned literally nothing, and I'll report back after reading Part 3....the irony is that the author spends 20 minutes talking about how many editions he has for the book from editing...dude....this intro needs to be cut by AT LEAST 75%.

Wow, low ROI

This book has some solid principles in part 3, but it is 90% the author making the case for why systems are important, all the amazing things you’ll get if you deploy good systems, and why he is so great at deploying systems. I think those premises are probably established before anyone picks up a book like this, totally a waste of time to repeat them AD NAUSEUM. The book is only about 10% practical guidance and that 10% is so dispersed that it makes it difficult to even find. The best I can tell you is that I would completely skip part 1, listen to part 3, and maybe dip your toe in part 2 if you have extra time. But mainly I would encourage you to spend your time on something else, e.g. _The Checklist Manifesto_.