Deep Work

Cal Newport

Overview: Deep Work makes the case for striving toward a distraction-free professional world, arguing that being able to focus on a cognitively demanding task without distraction will improve performance. Newport utilizes both historical and contemporary figures as evidence that “deep work” is capable of driving achievement across a wide range of professions. Newport offers numerous ways for readers to implement deep work into their daily routines, freeing us from the trivial tasks that dominate many of our work environments.

• In the Introduction, Newport lists numerous works such as The Shallows, Hamlet’s Blackberry, The Tyranny of Email, and The Distraction Addiction as proof of the idea that “network tools are distracting us from work that requires unbroken concentration...”
  • How much of your mission can be accomplished without the use of network tools?
  • If network tools cannot be eliminated in your organization, can their frequency of use be modulated?
  • What part(s) of your mission would be most improved in the absence of distraction?
  • Which deep work philosophy described would best suit you? Would the demands placed on you by your organization allow for you to follow that philosophy?
• The author’s Deep Work hypothesis posits that “the ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at the exact same time as it is increasingly valuable in our economy.” This breaks down to a few simple ideas: 1) value stems from craftsmanship, 2) craftsmanship requires an ability to learn, 3) learning requires an ability to focus, and 4) we are losing our ability to focus.
  • Does your organization value craftsmanship over productivity (i.e., quality over quantity)? Is the answer to that question driven by the nature of your metrics?
  • Which components of the new Continuum of Learning will be most valuable to you on a journey toward becoming an expert? Is the answer the same for everyone in your organization?
  • Do you believe you can focus for an entire work day? How do you determine what work you will try to accomplish while distracted? Do you feel a need to reconcile “Excellence in all we do” with making a choice of what work is sufficiently important to warrant your undivided attention?
• The book focuses mostly on the value of deep work in an information economy, but its applicability is likely broader.
  • Are there parallels to be drawn between deep work/shallow work, and strategy/tactics?
  • Can you come up with analogies or relationships using variables such as time, prioritization, collaboration, process-driven or level of focus to connect them?
• Much of the discussion around connectivity in this book deals with its tendency to distract. Commanders would likely argue that connectivity is essential for situational awareness on the battlefield, and to a lesser degree at home-station in the interest of being in the loop.
  • Would you ever willingly give up potentially relevant information in the interest of maximizing focus?
  • How do you filter information flow? Do you trust computers or personnel in your organization to make the call on what is potentially relevant?
• As a counterpoint to the idea that everyone benefits from deep work, Newport discusses the role of CEOs. He states that CEOs are valuable for their ability to be decision makers more so than their ability to think deeply about any one topic.
  • Do you agree with the author’s view of a diminished value of deep thinking for CEOs?
  • Where, if at all, in the course of an Air Force career do you believe that the value of deep-work craftsmanship is overtaken by the value of strong decision-making skills? Does this vary with career field, or between officers and enlisted Airmen?
• In the section “Don’t Work Alone,” Newport discusses the apparent contradiction between the move toward open-office floor plans and the need for more distraction-free time at work, describing a hub-and-spoke office arrangement that maximizes the benefits of both.
  • As leaders, we are encouraged to have an open-door policy. Since we are often not at liberty to remodel our work-areas, how can we best manage the need for distraction-free time with the needs to be available for, and to interact with, other Airmen?
  • Open-office floor plans are designed to bring about “serendipitous encounters.” Is there value in simply walking around your office/building? Is the value from serendipitous encounters greatest within your technical community, peers, subordinates, or superiors?
  • Can the money saved through use of (video) teleconferences replace the loss of these secondary effects (ideation/networking) that arise when people are put in proximity to one another without a scripted agenda?
• In the section “Be Lazy,” cartoonist Tim Kreider is attributed with the self-description: “I am not busy. I am the laziest ambitious person I know.” Newport also has a section entitled “Busyness as a Proxy for Productivity,” where he discusses the costs of the work that takes up most of our time.
  • As leaders, what can we do to minimize the busyness of our Airmen to maximize the value-added work that they should be doing?
  • As Airmen, how can we make the case to our leaders that down-time is not a luxury, but rather a necessity for doing meaningful work?