In-laws and outlaws

by C. Northcote Parkinson

Hardcover book.

Genres: Business, Humor, Nonfiction

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Cyril Northcote Parkinson was a naval historian and author of some sixty books. He was educated at Cambridge, and went on to teach in Malaya, and in the United States at Harvard and in Illinois.

He was an important scholar in the field of public administration.

His most famous work is Parkinson’s Law, or The Pursuit of Progress.

Reviews

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

If anyone today remember C. Northcote Parkinson, author of In-Laws and Outlaw it is either due to his “Law” of organizations, Parkinsons’s Law (Work expands to fill the time available) or his series of 19th Century Naval Officer’s books that begins with The Devil to Pay. His total list of published works is extensive, ranging from British Military history, other statical and not so satirical business management books, and biographies of fictional characters. He had served as an Army officer, and as a university professor From The Royal Naval College to The University of Malaya, with stops in between in Liverpool, Oxford, Havard and UC Berkeley (Source Wiki). He was a respected historian and after his founding of several management related “Laws” even worked as a business consultant.

In Laws and Out Laws reads as his take on what was another poke at the corporate world How to Succeed at Business without Evan Trying. The two books came out at about the same time and one can only speculate how interconnected they were.

In several chapters he speaks on the various decisions a prospective corporate leader must make on the way to the top floor office suite.
Given that the first decision is to become the son in law of an already powerful man, it should be noted that this was written in the 1950’s. He is not entirely dismissive towards women, but he is many miles from “woke.” In his world there are no women with power titles, but having the right secretary is important. selecting her on looks matter, but only to a degree. That is, she will be an important employee, but she should present an appearance. So not even on the same planet as woke.

For the rest there are a number of comments that while clearly meant to be humorous, are sufficiently close to the truth to be taken as written. In discussing management types he is dismissive of the leader who leaves a person in the waiting room while handing phone callers first. Parkinson may be humorous in his description, but his moral is spot on. Place the flesh and blood presence on a higher priority. He is at his best in giving his character’s a name. I found myself looking forward to who is called what. Opening the book at random I find:
Mr. Reeder, an about to be embarrassed junior staff member
Sheering Venshyan the peddler from Mehkbeheliv, a fictional character invented to make our man on the make sound like a world traveling adventurer.
Professor Aloysius Polwhittle, a failed corporate employee and sometimes business consultant, speaking about a company in which he had stock : Bugworthy and Gremlin
And so forth.
By the end, I was less inclined to chuckle and more inclined to agree with the wisdom. Either way a nice reason to read In-Laws and Outlaws

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stuff is rather frivolous and some of it is very deeply insightful. It is not always immediately - or fully - clear which is which...

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parkinson's humorous and satirical books on business have survived remarkably well.

Despite being written in 1962 as a series of newspaper articles (which explains why the first chapter is a little out of context and should perhaps be ignored), In-Laws & Outlaws remains a hilarious insight into how organisations work.

Even if his solutions are written for humorous purposes and so aren't really practical, they are based on a genuinely wise understanding of the politics of organisations and the ways in which individual and corporate ambitions are frustrated by the very human irrationality that underpins day-to-day life in the corporate world. After you've stopped laughing, you'll discover that you've actually learned something useful.

[KennyO · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it too long ago to write anything defensible about it but, given that it’s Parkinson, it’s bound to have aged well.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome drawings

[Philip William · Rating 2 out of 5]

How to succeed in business according to Parkinson.

It is neither funny enough or true enough to get more stars. Perhaps it was funnier in the early 1960s

[Frank Hoppe · Rating 3 out of 5]

His wit sparkled in the early chapters but diminished considerably as the book progressed. I felt that by the end Parkinson had grown tired of the project.