If business is a hamster wheel, what kind of hamster do you want to be? The one who runs all day long, huffing and puffing to keep things turning? Or the sleek and happy rodent who works in the corner office down the hall? Stanley Bing has seen the way the big furballs operate in good times and bad. Core skills taught in this Delegation Telling people what to do and having them do it. Absence Operating from the digital vacuum. Abuse of status It can be done. Decisiveness Even when confused. Engagement But only when necessary. Step off the wheel. Grab this book. And relax.
Gil Schwartz, known by his pen name Stanley Bing, was an American business humorist and novelist. He wrote a column for Fortune magazine for more than twenty years after a decade at Esquire magazine. He was the author of thirteen books, including What Would Machiavelli Do? and The Curriculum, a satirical textbook for a business school that also offers lessons on the web. Schwartz was senior executive vice president of corporate communications and Chief Communications Officer for CBS.
Unexpectedly turned out to have lessons that actually work in real life, while also being really funny. Loved it and will be thinking about it in my workplace and in my life.
The only issue I had was that the alcohol section for socialising was way longer and detailed than I would have cared for.
It is ok. A funny, cynical and maybe practical view of the modern corporation from the eyes of an experienced executive. If you are bored and want a lightweight and distracting business book, it will do.