Start with What Works

Chapter 13

Getting Started, Releasing Change

‘To know and not to do is to not yet know’– Harold Milnthorpe

Waiting for Perfect Conditions That Never Come?

My colleague Helga Henry recently sent me an excellent article by Oliver Burkeman.1 I like Burkeman. While pop psychology is a field full of bunkum (see Box 13.1), he is one of the few writers on the topic worth reading: irreverent, sceptical and sensible.

In the article, Oliver talks about ‘The Importance Trap’: an often-unrecognised cause of procrastination. He describes The Importance Trap as follows:

Box 13.1

The problem with psychology in management

Psychologists have had a huge influence ...