Question: Where do people waste the most time?

Answer: On the job.

How many times have you worked very hard on something, only to find your boss changes directions yet again and your work is wasted? This happens all too frequently in the typical workplace.

The problem isn't that bosses are deliberately wasting your time. The problem is they are not availing themselves of the right tools to avoid mismanaging their most important resources.

To avoid this problem, get your boss into the idea habit. You'll need to find a good time to approach your boss about this. Do so in a friendly manner, and plan out what you'll say. Here's a recommended procedure:

• Tell your boss, "Your success is important to me. I think you are being asked to do too much, but I know how you can overcome the odds. Would you like to talk about that?"
• If your boss isn't open to this, find a new boss. If your boss is open to this, explain, "I think we can both agree you've been forced to abandon some perfectly good plans and a lot of hard work. And has meant a big waste of your time and that of your team."
• Then, tell your boss, "Did you know that Toyota has not laid off one person since 1950, even when their sales were down 37% during the Carter era oil embargo? There's a reason for that. And it's the same reason that they dominate the J.D. Powers Quality Survey while being the world's most efficient automobile producer. Do you want to know the reason?"
• If your boss says no, find a different boss. If your boss says yes, say, "The power of ideas. They don't believe the boss should be alone in trying to solve problems. We need to explore how they do that and use the same concept so we can also get astounding results."
• You might want to give your boss the book, "Ideas are Free." You can get it from http://www.mindconnection.com/ if you click the radio button and paste the text "Ideas are Free" (no quotes) into the search box.

If you follow this advice and your boss follows the Toyota example, you will see a huge drop in time wasted at work. You'll feel more job satisfaction, and your whole team will be less likely to be laid off. Surely, those rewards make the effort worth undertaking.