Rules of Thumb and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Buy Used
Used - Acceptable See details
$5.36 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
 
   
Sell Back Your Copy
For a $1.30 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self
 
 
Start reading Rules of Thumb on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self [Hardcover]

Alan M. Webber (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)

List Price: $24.99
Price: $17.07 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $7.92 (32%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Only 5 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want it delivered Thursday, May 17? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Hardcover, Bargain Price $10.00  
Hardcover, April 21, 2009 $17.07  
Paperback, Bargain Price $6.40  
Unknown Binding --  
Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged $20.95 or Free with Audible 30-day free trial

Book Description

April 21, 2009

We live in a world of dramatic, tumultuous, and unpredictable change—change that is wiping out time-honored businesses and long-standing institutions and ushering in unprecedented opportunities for creative individuals and entrepreneurial organizations. So pervasive is change today that it has redefined our first task: The job is no longer figuring out how to win at the game of work and life; the job is figuring out the new rules of the game.

That's the context for Alan M. Webber's Rules of Thumb, a guide for individuals in every walk of life who want to make sense out of these confusing, challenging, and compelling times. Drawing from his own experiences as cofounding editor of Fast Company magazine and a wide range of interactions with some of the world's leading thinkers and highest achievers, including Nobel Prize winners and global change agents, Webber has produced 52 "rules of thumb"—a collection that is as wise as it is useful and as honest as it is helpful. The rules come from real-life lessons learned and recorded on three-by-five cards, a trick borrowed from one of the many mentors whose teachings Webber captures and catalogues in this book.

If you're looking for practical advice on how to win at work without losing your self, if you want to change your life to meet the challenge of change, or if you want to learn from some of the world's most interesting and creative people, let Alan M. Webber take you on a remarkable journey toward greater personal understanding and, ultimately, greater personal success.


Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Cengage Advantage Books: This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations $79.03

Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self + Cengage Advantage Books: This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations
  • This item: Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Cengage Advantage Books: This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details



Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Webber, entrepreneur and columnist, offers advice and inspiration with 52 practical lessons gleaned from more than 40 years of working with extraordinary leaders in a variety of endeavors. He sets out to help today’s professional men and women stay focused, productive, and inspired even in our most turbulent times of change relating to globalization, technology, and the knowledge economy. The author kept records of his experiences and describes them along with the lessons he learned, showing us how these lessons can be applied to our business or personal life. His rules? When the going gets tough, the tough relax; don’t implement solutions, prevent problems; the difference between a crisis and an opportunity is when you learn about it; every start-up needs four things: change, connections, conversation, and community; entrepreneurs choose serendipity over efficiency; knowing it ain’t the same as doing it; and great leaders answer Tom Peters’ great question: “How can I capture the world’s imagination?” This excellent book offers valuable, thought-provoking ideas for library patrons. --Mary Whaley

Review

“This excellent book offers valuable, thought-provoking ideas for library patrons.” (Booklist )

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: HarperBusiness; First Edition edition (April 21, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061721832
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061721830
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #626,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

According to those who know him best, Alan M. Webber is witty and wise (on Mondays and Wednesdays), thoughtful and provocative (on Tuesdays and Thursdays), and irreverent and creative (on Fridays and Saturdays). On Sundays he rests. He is the cofounding editor of Fast Company magazine and was the editorial director and managing editor of the Harvard Business Review. He's worked in federal, state, and local government, writing speeches and focusing on innovative policy initiatives. Currently he calls himself a 'global detective' which has the benefit of meaning little but sounding cool. Two of the high points of his life came when he spent a summer shagging fly balls with the St. Louis Cardinals during batting practice and when he took his first trip to Japan and was told he looked like Bruce Willis. He's married to Frances Diemoz, an architect and furniture maker; his son and daughter, Adam and Amanda, are his two favorite children in the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Most self-help books (amazon.com currently lists 24,855 of them) are generous with words and thin on genuine ideas. Alan Webber either wanted to be done with the book business in one go or he has an endless supply of ideas. "'52 Rules of Thumb"' contains material for 52 average self-help books; each single rule could have been rolled out to 200-plus pages easily. Thank you Mr Webber for resisting that temptation. For anybody in the communication business (PR, priesthood, politics, parenting) this book is a treasure trove. The idea looter''s wet dream. Whenever preparing a sermon or a sales pitch or a motivational speech just pick one of Mr. Webber''s rules of thumb and you have an easy start. This book deserves five stars. You don''t agree? Well, my favorite rule in the book is '"Learn to take 'No' as a question"'.
Was this review helpful to you?
27 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Alan Webber has a track record unlike almost anyone else in the history of business. His passion and insight at Fast Company magazine revolutionized our world in the best possible way.

This book is like a blog, but better, because you can highlight it, postit it and bring it on an airplane. If you find yourself enjoying books where you can mull over a nugget or two and suddenly find them changing your strategy, this is a great book for you.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Better Than Botox!!! May 5, 2009
Format:Hardcover
I just read this book during a cross-country plane flight on Monday and I must admit that I will not be requiring any Botox injections, for my forehead wrinkles, for some weeks. As I read through the various "truths for winning at business", fellow passengers would observe me slapping my forehead and uttering either, "Yes, of course" or "Why didn't I think of that."

With just the kind of chapter titles you would expect coming from one of the guys who invented Fast Company (the insanely great business mag that has never recovered the founders' absence), my favorites among Webber's various rules include: Change is a math formula; A good question beats a good answer; Learn to take no as a question; Facts are facts but stories are how we learn; If you want to change the game change the economics of how the game is played; Everything communicates; and Content isn't king, context is king.

You will find that each of these 52 entries includes a short story followed by a 'So What?' explanation of how this rule has practical application for the reader. Alan, thanks for a great, thought provoking read . . . and a flat forehead.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good purchase
The book got here fast compared to the other books I bought at the same time, and it was in great condition when I got it. Good Amazon experience.
Published 7 months ago by Nevil
It's a masterpiece!
This book was a fairly recent find, after I started my business in October last year. I picked this book from the library and at first I did not think too much about it. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Soma Bhadra
Entertaining as well as informative results from world-class mulling
This book is as difficult to describe as it is easy to appreciate. What we have here is a series of 52 mini-commentaries, each devoted to an insight or conviction that Alan Webber... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Robert Morris
Great for entrepreneurs/innovators, or entrepreneurs/innovators at...
I came across the name of Fast Company frequently but I had not read it before. I picked this book up because of the recommendations by Daniel Pink, Tom Peters and Seth Godin. Read more
Published 16 months ago by ServantofGod
The Rules I Will Take With Me, or Already Do
A friend of mine recently recommended Rules of Thumb, here is my take, and my rules.

I like that he approached the key topics of management through these rules. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Daniel W. Rasmus
Interesting & Thought-Provoking
I'm back on a business book kick and have some pretty good stuff I want to share with you. For now, let me introduce you to Alan Webber. Read more
Published 19 months ago by amcmoore
Practical mottos to work/live by
I've come to think of rules-of-thumb as "residue" of an expert's accumulated experience. Good rules-of-thumb become mottos for everyday work and living. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ben Ziegler
Truths for Winning at Business
Among other things, Alan Weber has served as the Editor of the Harvard Business Review was the co-founder of Fast Company magazine. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Kevin Eikenberry
just okay
it's an okay book. you'll gain a little perspective, but the author draws all of his stories and conclusions from just 5 or 6 life experiences.
Published on April 7, 2010 by Creed Smith
This book will both grab your attention and hold it.
Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self
Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D. Read more
Published on March 17, 2010 by And Then Some Publishing LLC
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject