Dave Crenshaw - A Life-Changing Formula

Posted on 27th of January, 2019 by Naomi Bolton

A highly sought-after author, speaker, and online trainer, Dave Crenshaw is the master of building productive leaders. The irony of Dave’s mission is that he considers himself very chaotic and inherently unfocused. In fact, he was clinically diagnosed with both ADHD and bipolar disorder. Dave took these diagnoses as a personal challenge and developed simple systems that high-performing leaders utilize to improve focus, structure, and stability. He also frequently appears in the news worldwide, including TIME magazine, FastCompany, USA Today and the BBC News. However, Dave is most proud of being cited by Chuck Norris in The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book. As our Author of the Day, Crenshaw tells us all about his book that describes his formula to success, The Result.

Please give us a short introduction of what the result is about.

Anyone who achieves a goal, or changes a habit, or achieves success is following a formula, whether or not they know it. This formula is something that I had discovered through decades of working with some of the most successful people in the world. If you want to achieve a goal, or make something happen in your life that's never happened before, the result will show you a practical, proven formula to bring that to life.

What inspired you to write this book?

I've taught many people this formula through private coaching and consulting, and whenever I've taught it to them, it becomes life-changing. Not in a motivational speech sort of way, but in a way that gives clarity to people's actions. They now understand precisely what they need to do to make a result happen, and they know what they need others to do, as well. Because the result formula has been so successful with other people, I wanted to create a resource that anyone could use to learn it, and share with others.

How did you own struggle with chaos help you to figure out a formula and write this book?

In a word, simplicity. I was dealt a very poor genetic hand in terms of my brain's ability to stay focused. This has forced me to put things in the simplest way possible. Most productivity and self-help books are incredibly complex. In the result, I have taken the complex and distilled it down only to that which is most important and most vital for someone to succeed. Why? Because an inherently chaotic person like myself first had to figure out a way to understand it all.

As someone with ADHD, how did you manage to actually sit down and finish a book?

I use a time management system that's adapted to one of the most inherently disorganized people in the world—me. It helps me get everything done, stay focused, and keep things organized with the most minimal amount of effort possible. If you're interested in learning that system, go to DaveCrenshaw.com/Time.

You have also been cited by Chuck Norris. Tell us more about it.

I've been a fan of Chuck Norris "facts" for a long time. These are jokes that have been around the internet for a long time. Chuck Norris took some of the best of these jokes and put them together in a book called The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book. In it, there is a fact that Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird, and in the chapter about that fact, he talks about how he doesn't believe in multitasking, and he cites me and my book The Myth of Multitasking. I consider it the greatest professional honor I've ever received.

Besides writing, what other skills do you have?

I'm also a speaker and online instructor. I regularly get to travel the world and speak to audiences in places like Dubai, Istanbul, the Philippines, and Australia. I also have more than 20 courses on LinkedIn Learning that teach productivity and leadership. These courses have received combined views of well over 15 million.

You are not a proponent of multitasking, why?

Multitasking, at least the way most people think about it, is a myth. The scientific evidence is overwhelming: your brain is not able to handle multiple active tasks at the same time. So, when most people think they are multitasking, what they are really doing is switching rapidly back and forth between tasks, and every time they switch, it costs them time, quality and stress. When people multitask, they think they are getting more done faster, but they are in fact getting less done with more mistakes and more stress.

You must be receiving a lot of testimonials from people you've helped, which one was the most memorable?

Well, if you want a list of testimonials that people have provided, you can see that at DaveCrenshaw.com/Testimonials. However, there's one that I'll never be able to use the name of the person but it really touched me. I had been coaching an executive for years, and one time at a dinner party, the wife of this executive came to me and pulled me aside. With tears in her eyes, she said, "I don't know what you did to my husband, but thank you." To me, I'm always most touched when something I've done impacted not just the individual, but somebody else that that individual works with, too.

How does this book tie in with the other books you've written?

Many of my books, and much of my training, is about the tactical, day to day things that you should do to be productive and stay focused. For instance, how to handle email, or how to schedule things on your calendar. The result ties in with the other books, but is also different because it is more about strategy. It's about the bigger picture and creating a pathway to getting the results you want in your life and your career. Tactics and strategy must go hand in hand.

The book is only 95 pages long. Why did you keep this short?

This goes back to my answer about simplicity. First, it must be simple in order for people to take action on it and do something about it. I'm not interested in people reading my book and feeling warm and fuzzy inside. What I hope is that people will read the book and do something about it, and the more simple the process is, the more likely someone is to follow it. Plus, most of my books are fairly short, and the reason for that is we are all too busy. We are all jumping from task to task, to email, to phone call rapidly in our day. Most people don't have the time to sit down and read a 200-page book, let alone a 350-page book. By keeping it short, simple and consumable within a matter of about two hours, I'm making it more likely that people will read the book cover to cover.

Do you have any interesting writing habits?

One of my favorite quotes about writing a book comes from an unlikely source. Former US president, Richard Nixon, isn't remembered fondly for many things—perhaps, rightly so, yet I respect him for saying, "To write a novel, you need an iron butt." Brilliant, and there's nothing crooked about that statement. When I write a book, I need to put my rear end in the chair and stay there until it gets done. So, when it comes time to write my books, I quite literally schedule iron butt time in my calendar. It's a reminder to me that in addition to the mental demand, writing is also a test of maximal gluteal fortitude.

What are you working on right now?

LinkedIn Learning has been an amazing partner in helping me reach people around the world with my training. Right now, I am working on new courses and course updates for them. If you'd like to see my list of courses, you can go to DaveCrenshaw.com/Learn.