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Productivity VIP – Mini Story

Hello this A.J. Welcome to the mini story. Let’s get started.

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Okay, there was a guy named Ray Johnson.

What was his name?

Ray Johnson.

What was his last name?

Johnson. Johnson was his last name. Johnson was his family name.

What was his first name?

His first name was Ray and his last name was Johnson.

So what was his full name?

Ray Johnson. His full name was Ray Johnson.

Now where did Ray work?

Well, he worked at IBM. Ray worked at IBM. He had worked at IBM for a long time.

Had he worked at IBM a short time or a long time?

Well, he had worked at IBM a long time.

Had he ever had any problems at his job?

No. In the past, he had never had any problems with his job. However, one day his boss called him into the office; into his boss’ office.

So what happened one day?

His boss called him into his office.

Had he ever had any problems before that?

No. He had never had any problems at work before that day.

So who had never had any problems at work before that day?

Ray. Ray Johnson, his full name. Ray Johnson had never had any problems at work before that day. However, on that day his boss called him into his office.

What did his boss say, do you think? Well, I’ll tell you.

His boss said “Ray, your productivity sucks! You’re spinning your wheels here every day playing on the Internet. Shape up or you’re out of here.” Ooh.

What was his productivity like?

It sucked.

Of course, “to suck” means to be very, very bad at something. So his productivity was very low. It was very bad.

Whose productivity sucked?

Ray’s. Ray’s productivity sucked.

Who told Ray that his productivity sucked?

His boss did. His boss told him that his productivity sucked.

And why did his productivity suck?

Well, because he was spinning his wheels every day, just playing on the Internet.

Well, that’s a slang phrase. To “spin your wheels” means to do something, to do an activity, but make no progress; get no results. So you’re appearing to take action, but nothing happens.

It comes from a car. Imagine a car is stuck in the mud, right, and you press the gas on the car, the accelerator. The wheels will spin, but because it’s in the mud the car will not go forward. So the wheels have activity, they’re spinning, they’re moving, but nothing’s really happening.

So we say this whenever someone appears to be doing work, someone appears to be trying or appears to be doing something, but, in fact, they’re not really accomplishing anything. They’re not getting any results.

So was Ray spinning his wheels at work?

Yes, he was. He was spinning his wheels at work. He looked like he was working, but he never got much finished. He never did very much, in fact. He played on the Internet a lot. He worked slowly, inefficiently. He was not productive.

So who was spinning his wheels at work every day?

Ray was spinning his wheels at work every day. Ray was appearing to do a lot of work, but not really doing very much, not accomplishing very much.

Was his boss spinning his wheels every day a work?

No, no, no. His boss, in fact, was very productive. He actually worked hard and he got a lot of results.

Did Ray get a lot of results at work?

No, he did not. He did not get results. He was spinning his wheels. He looked like he was working a lot, but, in fact, he wasn’t doing very much.

So what was Ray doing at work every day?

Spinning his wheels.

And how was his productivity?

It sucked. It was bad, very bad. It sucked. It sucked, because he was just spinning his wheels every day; appearing busy, but not really getting results, not really doing much.

So what did his boss finally say to him?

He said “Shape up or you’re out of here.”

Another way to say that, another slang phrase, is “shape up or ship out.” Now to “shape up” means to improve a lot. It means to improve. So if you say it to someone at work, you say, you need to shape up, it means you need to improve your work, improve the quality of your work.

You say it to someone who’s, let’s say, overweight, they’re fat. You say you need to shape up. It means they need to exercise more and try harder and work harder.

So to “shape up” means to work harder and better and to improve. It has the idea the idea that right now you’re not doing a good job and you need to do a better job. So if someone is doing a bad job and we want them to do a better job we can say shape up.

You need to shape up. It’s a little bit strong way to say this.

So what did Ray need to do?

Shape up. He needed to shape up.

Where did he need to shape up?

At work. He needed to shape up at work. He was fine at home. He was fine in his personal life.

But was his productivity good at work?

No, it wasn’t. It sucked.

So what did his boss want him to do at his job?

Shape up. His boss said “You need to shape.” You need to improve. You need to get much better quickly or “you’re out a here.”

It means you are out of here. You’re out a here. It means you’re going to have to leave, right? If we say “you’re out a here”, it means we’re kicking someone out. We’re forcing them to leave some place. You’re out of here.

Another phrase that means exactly the same is “shape up or ship out.” That’s a slang phrase. “Shape up” means improve or “ship out” means leave. So shape out or ship out means improve quickly or leave. Shape up or ship out. Improve quickly or leave. It’s a strong statement. You say it to someone who’s doing a bad job who needs to improve a lot.

So, Ray had to what?

He had to shape up or ship out. He had to improve at work or he would have to leave.

They would fire him.

Who told Ray to shape up or ship out?

His boss did. His boss told him to shape up or ship out. Shape up or you’re out of here.

So why did he say that? What was Ray doing every day at work?

Just spinning his wheels. Just spinning his wheels. Just appearing to work hard, but not really.

Well, did Ray feel good about all of this?

He didn’t. He felt terrible about this, because deep inside he realized that his boss was right.

So was his boss right or was his boss wrong?

His boss was right. Ray’s productivity did suck. It was bad. He was just spinning his wheels and Ray realized that he did need to shape up or ship out. He needed to get better or he would have to leave.

So, first, he decided to complete all tasks at work in just 24 hours. He did all his tasks with good quality and he did them lightening fast.

How fast did he do his tasks at work?

Lightening fast.

Lightening fast is another idiom. “Lightening fast” means super fast, super, super fast; lightening fast.

What did he do lightening fast?

His tasks at work. His tasks.

And who did his work tasks lightening fast?

Ray did, of course, Ray.

And what was Ray’s full name?

Ray Johnson.

That’s right, Ray Johnson. He changed. He did all his tasks at work very well and he did them lightening fast; super fast.

So did he do them slowly or did he do them lightening fast?

Of course, he did them lightening fast.

But that’s not all. Next, he decided to answer emails only on Tuesday and Friday, because he was wasting too much time doing emails.

So how often did he decide to do emails?

Twice a week. He decided to only answer emails twice a week; two times a week.

What did he decide to do only twice a week?

Emails. Answer emails.

And which days did he decide to do emails on?

Tuesdays and Fridays. He decided to only answer emails on Tuesdays and Fridays and he decided to do his emails lightening fast.

So every Tuesday and Friday he burned through his inbox super fast; lightening fast.

Of course, “inbox” is his email inbox where all of the new emails are and to “burn through”, that’s a bit of an idiom. To “burn through” something means to go through it very fast; to do it very fast.

So if you say I burned through my emails today, it means you did them very, very quickly. So you do something quickly. You burn through it. You say I burned through that book. It means you read it very fast. You did it very quickly.

So what did Ray burn through?

He burned through his email inbox. It means he read and answered and finished everything in his inbox very, very quickly. He burned through them.

If you can imagine a fire spreading very fast, that’s where the meaning comes from.

So what did he burn through every Tuesday and Thursday?

He burned through his email inbox.

And who burned through his emails every Tuesday and Friday?

Ray. Ray Johnson burned through his emails every Tuesday and Friday.

So did he do them quickly or did he answer them slowly?

Quickly again, quickly. He burned through them. He went through them. He did them very, very quickly.

So what did he burn through?

His emails.

How often did he burn through his emails?

Twice a week.

And which days did he burn through his emails?

Tuesdays and Fridays.

Well, he was really shaping up, right? He was getting better. He was improving at work, but he decided to shape up even more. So, next, he finally decided to be proactive at work. He decided to be very proactive; to not wait until his boss gave him work.

So did he decide to be reactive and passive or did he decide to be proactive and take initiative?

He decided to be proactive and take initiative.

Now to be “proactive” and to “take initiative”, similar meanings, they both mean to take actions yourself. You don’t wait for someone else to tell you to do it, you just do it. You see a problem, you solve it. Something needs to be done, you do it. You don’t wait for someone to tell you.

If you wait, that’s called being “reactive”; reactive or passive. You’re just waiting for someone to tell you what to do – passive or reactive. But if you look for problems to solve and then you solve them, you don’t need anyone to tell you, that’s being proactive.

So did he decide to be reactive or proactive?

Proactive.

And who decided to be proactive?

Ray.

What was his last name?

Johnson.

That’s right. So Ray Johnson decided to be what?

Proactive.

He decided to be proactive where?

At work. He decided to be proactive at work.

He decided not to wait until his boss gave him work; rather, he looked for and identified potential problems and he solved them before they got too big.

What kind of problems did he look for?

Potential problems.

That means problems that were maybe small, but potentially, possibly, could become big in the future.

What did he do with these potential problems?

He solved them.

He solved them before they got what?

He solved them before they got too big; before they got bigger. He solved them while they were still small.

So was he being proactive or passive?

He was being very proactive. He was actively looking for problems to solve.

And who was being very proactive?

Again, Ray Johnson.

Which company did he work for, do you remember?

IBM. He worked for IBM.

And so, to summarize, first, he decided to complete all his tasks lightening fast, in just 24 hours. Second, he decided to only answer emails on Tuesdays and Fridays and when he did them on Tuesdays and Fridays he burned through his emails. He burned through his inbox very quickly. He read them and answered them very, very fast, very quickly.

And, finally, he decided to be very proactive at work. He decided not to wait until his boss gave him work; rather, he looked for and identified potential problems and he solved them before they got bigger.

So how did Ray’s boss feel about all of this?

Well, as you might imagine, he was very, very happy about it.

In fact, after six months, Ray’s boss said to him “Ray, you’re fantastic. You’re on my A-Team now. You’re super productive. I’m giving you a big raise.” So what did he say again?

He said “You’re fantastic.” You’re wonderful, of course. He said “You’re on my A-Team now.”

There was actually a movie called The A-Team. Maybe you saw it, maybe not, but what’s an A-Team? It’s a little bit of slang again. The “A-Team” or an “A-Team” means the top team. It means the group with the very best performers.

Now this might be formal, there might be a real team or group that all the best people go onto, but often it’s informal. It just means that the person recognizes that you are one of the best. So his boss is saying “You’re on my A-Team now.” It means you’re one of my best workers now. You are joining the group that are really, really good, really, really excellent; the top performers. That’s what it really means.

If someone says you’re on my A-Team or you’re on the A-Team, it means you are a top performer. You’re super productive; excellent work. You’re really, really good at what you do.

Sometimes another way people say this is you are an A-Player, an A-Player. So, again, that means you are a top player. “A” is the first letter in the alphabet, right? It’s the first letter, so it’s the first. It’s the top. So an A-Player is a player who is top quality.

Being on the A-Team means you are with all the other top performers. So he was saying you are one of my top performers. That’s what his boss was saying. He said “You’re super productive and I’m giving you a big raise.” Of course, in a job setting, a raise means an increase in money; an increase in your salary.

And so after six months he got a big raise, he was on the A-Team, he was super productive and Ray was very, very happy and so was his boss.

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And that is the end of our mini story for this month.

Listen to it every single day this month. Practice it. Get a lot of these nice slang and idiom phrases until you know them completely and deeply. Of course, you’re practicing past tense and some past perfect and other things you don’t need to think about. Just listen to the story and answer the questions.

And, of course, as you know, for the first few days you can just listen only. Then for a few days more, after that, you can pause and answer the questions and then play again and then pause and play, pause and play. Then maybe after a week or so, maybe two, you can try to answer the questions very quickly without pausing.

Finally, when that’s very easy, you can focus on pronunciation. So you’ll play a sentence and pause and then you’ll repeat it the same way that I’m saying it. Don’t just repeat, imitate. Copy everything. Copy my volume. Copy when I go up and when I go down.

Copy my speed.

Try to sound exactly like me and in this way you make the mini story a game and you’re doing different things at different times so that by the end of the month you totally, completely master everything in the mini story. You can do something similar with the point-of-view stories and all of the audio lessons.

All right, I’ll see you again next time, bye-bye.