Work to your heart's content

These ten simple instructions are my screensaver on my lap top.

When I deliver training and the projector defaults to my screen, I often see participants frantically noting down the 10 points. Every time I ask what they think the list is, the usual answer is that it is some managment guru or Harvard Business School type list. It always pleases me to let people know that this is the work of two Swiss artists, Peter Fischli and David Weiss. You may know of their delightful film "The Way Things Go" (a sort of "mousetrap game"chain reaction installation playing with the notion of momentum and the laws of motion -  catch the trailer here) which in turn influenced the Honda "Cog advert".

To quote The Channel 4 Big Art Project "Painted on the wall of an office building, the artists play with the motivational sayings and strategies of the huge corporations that rule our lives and work." The list is painted on the side of a building on the outskirts of Zurich which is apparently now used as the computer science building of a local university (according to Flickr comments).

But in playing with the notion of corporate banality, the artists have themselves written something simple and profound - a genuine mantra for working well. I think that if you carried out those ten pieces of advice consistently in the building of your business, you would actually build a successful corporation to be proud of.

I try to remember the advice of "How to Work Better" in my daily work life, particularly point 1: One thing at a time.

What would be in your top 10? What do you think is missing? Which is your favourite? Let me know.