Jason Fried’s new book Rework comes out today, and I’m delighted that we managed to talk just a week ago in the lead up to its launch. Now here’s a quote to kick us off. It’s from Seth Godin, and he says (and I’m paraphrasing), “Make everything a project – and run it through 37Signals’ Basecamp.” Jason is the one of the founders of 37Signals. They design useful software to help people work better – connect with people, run projects, managing stuff. (I know, because I use it!)

And what’s cool is they haven’t done it by practising business as usual, but by practising business as unusual. In this interview Jason shares some of his successful and counter-intutive approaches to how to get stuff done. We talk about:

• The evolution of 37Signals – and why where you start is not where you finish
• The value of introducing “done enough” as a measure of success
• The problem with meetings – and what to do about it
• Why planning is highly overrated
• And a bunch more…

You can pick up the new book on Amazon , follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonFried, and learn more about 37 Signals’ products at their website.

Listen to my interview with Jason Fried

(And by the way, Jason’s surname is pronounced “Freed” – Apologies to Jason, and please ignore my mistake at the start of the interview!)

Peggy McColl is the woman behind Destinies.com, a New York Times bestselling author and a force to be reckoned with in the world of Great Work where we stand up, stare in the mirror and ask ourselves: What are my goals? What is my destiny? What is the life that I’m creating for myself?

Part of what’s terrific about this interview is that Peggy sits in that sweet spot between having a message that is important – and being focused and courageous enough to get it out to the world. Let’s just say it wasn’t an accident that Your Destiny Switch became a New York Times best-seller.

In our interview we discuss:

• How she got started – and what it took for her to take the leap that got things really moving
• The importance of marketing for the success of your Great Work – whether it’s a book or any other project
• The power question that invites others in to give you the support you need
• Why you mastering your emotions can help you move to Great Work

Listen to my interview with Peggy McColl

One of the giants in the self-development world, Leo Babauta. His blog Zen Habits is read by over 150,000 people, and with good reason. It’s practical, wise and committed to helping people create a better life for themselves through simple productivity. He’s also the author of The Power of Less, a best-selling book which helps declutter your life on every possible level.

I’m thrilled to say Leo has  contributed a piece to my new book,  Do More Great Work.

In this interview Leo and I talk about:

• How he balanced two jobs (and a family with six children) to launch Zen Habits
• Leo’s core planning tool – and it’s about having fun
• Why starting small is the most powerful way for getting big
• The secret to leaving behind a bad habit and taking up a more positive, new one.

You can follow Leo on Twitter at @zen_habits and read his work on his blog.

Listen to my interview with Leo Babauta

My first job, when I finally stumbled out of university, was with a small creativity and innovation company. It was pretty fantastic – sort of a ‘Fast Company’ company before such a thing existed. And we truly felt that we were in the vanguard for making innovation and its attendant skill creativity important in organizations.

But vanguard? No, not really. Roger von Oech – now he was in the vanguard. He started his company Creative Think back in the mid 1970s and his book A Whack on the Side of the Head is a classic in the creativity field.

In this interview we talk about:

• The power of persistence, and some of the early struggles to get creativity seen as something that matters within organizations
• The importance of embedding creativity into the structures of your organization
• The role of the warrior in helping creativity flourish
• And a certain activity that can increase your ability to be creative (And David Rock agrees.)

You can follow Roger on Twitter at @RogerVonOech and on his website.

Listen to my interview with Roger von Oeck

There are very few books I find myself endlessly recommending to others. One of them is Michael Watkin’s The First 90 Days. It does a fabulous job at addressing that real and pressing challenge: How do you flourish in your first days in a new job or role, knowing that those first 90 days will make and break your longer-term success?

Michael’s been both an academic and a practitioner, so he brings both heart and hands into this conversation. We talk about:

• The aHa! moment when it became clear that the challenge of transitions would be Michael’s own ‘Great Work’
• The power of focus, and what number is “too many” for your A-list of priorities
• A simple but powerful tactic to stay ‘on task’ once you’ve defined your priorities
• The danger of the comfort zone – and the role of delegation in making a difference
• What “improv” has to do with success.

You can learn more about Michael’s work on his website.

Listen to my interview with Michael Watkins