Salt Lake City — May 19, 2010 — Authors of FAKE “WORK“ a book that offers an aggressive look at business work strategies and practices, announced businesses are at risk as studies show that 50% of all work done in the workplace is Fake Work®. Fake Work costs organizations money and creates unhappy, uncommitted employees.

“ Fake Work is an epidemic threatening the very existence of many organizations,” said Brent D. Peterson, co-author of FAKE “WORK“ and chairman of The Work Itself Group. “Almost everyone who hears about Fake Work recognizes the problem immediately as massive amounts of unnecessary work.”

Fake Work® research shows some startling statistics which indicate that employees up and down the line are seriously disconnected from the strategic goals of their organization:

• 73% of workers say their organizations’ strategies and goals are not translated into specific work tasks they can execute.
• 70% of workers do not know what to do to support their organizations’ strategies and goals.
• 81% of workers do not feel a strong level of commitment to their organizations’ strategies.

“Productivity is suffering”, said Gaylan W. Nielson, co-author FAKE “WORK“ and CEO of The Work Itself Group. FAKE “WORK“ is an indictment of the careless inattention to how organizations focus and prioritize work. This book provides solutions to eliminate Fake Work in the workplace.”

The Work Itself® Attacks Fake Work®

The authors created The Work Itself years ago to attack the Fake Work they were seeing in the workplace. And the book grew from that work. The Work Itself process brings the whole organization together to create a common focus on the right work to get results.

“No single individual or group has the wisdom or ability to chart strategic action and carry it out successfully, said Peterson. “The process eliminates Fake Work in its entirety ensuring that plans are sound, effectively expressed, internalized and translated into daily tasks making overarching strategic goals obtainable and understood.”

This simple, elegant process for helping leaders build strategies, align teams, and create plans to execute the right work to get meaningful results not only benefits companies, but individuals as well.

“By aligning the work that gets done and eliminating the irrelevant processes, we provide people with a method of building job security by making them invaluable to the company they work for,” said Nielson. “Our hands on approach — The Work Itself® — increases execution by aligning teams and ensuring that individuals’ daily work tasks are linked to the company’s overall strategies.”

About FAKE “WORK“

FAKE “WORK“endorsed by Stephen R. Covey, targets the many causes of Fake Work that the authors have observed in businesses and organizations over the years. It also provides the “Paths to Real Work®,” which deals with organizational, team, interpersonal, and personal approaches to change the world of work into a more efficient and productive place to do business.

About The Work Itself Group

The Work Itself Group has provided solutions to companies of every size in every industry interested in fixing their problems with Fake Work®. The group understands the critical connection that drives strategy to work through alignment and helps facilitate the formation of that connection within organizations. The Work Itself Group also provides services that help organizations align teams to execute strategies, and other services to develop and build high performance individuals, teams, and organizations.

About the Founders

Brent D. Peterson, PhD, is the co-author of FAKE “WORK“, co founder and Chairman of The Work Itself Group. He has written 21 books focused on management, leadership and strategy. Dr. Peterson has completed extensive research in these areas over his 30 years of consulting and teaching. Brent has founded, owned and managed four consulting companies. He is a sought-after speaker who addresses the problem of Fake Work.

Gaylan W. Nielson is the co-author of FAKE “WORK“, and the co-founder and CEO of The Work Itself Group. He has started 2 other businesses, served in leadership for two others, and has spent more than 22 years consulting on a multitude of issues, including strategic planning, alignment, and execution; and he consults, speaks, and writes about those processes extensively. He has also facilitated more than 1500 workshops and lead many critical projects for clients.