Get Er Done: The Green Beret Guide to Productivity

Michael Martel
PCG Business (2011)
ISBN 9781936417179
Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (8/11)


“Get Er Done” is a guide to help businesses and individuals increase their productivity. Written by former Green Beret Michael Martel, this book covers a variety of topics to motivate people to achieve success through both thought and action. He provides tips on how to properly plan for tasks as well as how to best manage the time needed to complete them.

Each chapter focuses on a specific topic. Subsequent chapters build upon the previous ones, providing a logical procession of information. At the end of every chapter, the author provides a mission in which the reader is asked to put into practice the skill he has just learned. The highly detailed examples of concepts used throughout this book may seem a bit grandiose, but they really help put things into perspective. After all, if the systems work for dangerous military operations, they surely can be helpful for accomplishing tasks in everyday life.

The part that influenced me the most was the importance of thinking you will be successful at any task even though some things will inevitably go wrong. This is accomplished through improvising, adapting, and believing that quitting is not an option. Dividing a task into smaller parts and working on easier parts first will help the person or team gain confidence before they tackle the more difficult aspects. Some of the advice surprised me because it is contrary to what I’ve been taught. The author dissuades the use of multitasking. He suggests that multitasking actually serves as a distraction to all of the tasks you are trying to do at the same time. Instead, he states it is better to focus on one thing at a time and dedicate your complete attention to it to increase the chances for success.

“Get Er Done” can provide helpful tips for achieving success to teenagers and adults, namely through the use of recruiting others to help accomplish a mission. Being exposed to different people’s ideas allows for more flexibility in formulating a plan. Also covered in depth is a system for reviewing what went right and what went wrong during a task and then discovering and implementing ways to do it better in the future.

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