How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn Hard: Rethinking the Rules, Reinventing the Game [Hardcover]

Robert J. Kriegel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 13, 2002

The average work week is 60 hours and rising. These days, people are working harder than ever before: but these long hours don't necessarily translate into productivity. While individuals race to meet deadlines they aren't creating change; they are only responding to it. According to Robert Kriegel, the only way to succeed in today's business climate is to break away from old modes, myths and mindsets and re-think, re-define and re-invent the rules that govern the game. Kriegel encourages individuals to adopt new strategies that have proven to dramatically increase the performance levels of employees and companies alike. His suggestions include innovative business ideas like vertical meetings: everyone stands, guaranteeing meetings will be shorter. Kriegel challenges convential wisdom in order to come up with dramatic new solutions to old problems. After all, this is the only way to suceed in business without working so damn hard.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As more of us come to understand the hefty personal price that often accompanies major professional success, fewer of us are willing to blindly sacrifice so much in order to attain it. How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn Hard is a combination pep talk and handbook for those facing this increasingly common dilemma, offering practical advice for sharpening our on-the-job performance so we can work more effectively and thus make more time for our outside lives. Robert J. Kriegel, an athletic coach, radio commentator, and coauthor of four previous personal and organizational behavior books including If It Ain't Broke... Break It!, mixes anecdotes from all manner of sources with insight from his own experiences to create this inspirational and easy-to-read guide. Quoting from a disparate collection of practitioners of the "less is more" philosophy ranging from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and martial artist extraordinaire Bruce Lee to Monty Python alum John Cleese and retail pioneer John Wanamaker, he proposes precise strategies for reducing interference inflicted by notorious corporate time wasters like e-mail, meetings, and memos, along with specific approaches for injecting creativity--and boosting productivity accordingly--in common business situations. --Howard Rothman

Review

'Kriegel is on to something here... Many terrific suggestions... Read this book.' Anne Fisher, FORTUNE.COM 'Worth reading. Kriegel has repackaged those kernels of practical business and work wisdom in a reader-friendly way that suggests that his right brain has been working overtime.' ORLANDO SENTINEL --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Warner Business Books (February 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446526320
• ISBN-13: 978-0446526326
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,079,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars misleading, March 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn Hard: Rethinking the Rules, Reinventing the Game (Hardcover)

The title is fulfilled in only the first two chapters or so. The rest of the book is management advice, which is decent advice (listen to your customer, etc), but I've read it elsewhere. I wanted to read what the title promised. Only happened on a minority of the pages. Disappointing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!, November 11, 2002

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn Hard: Rethinking the Rules, Reinventing the Game (Hardcover)

If you still think you have to hammer yourself to get ahead, stop doing two things at once and listen to Robert J. Kriegel. The author, an expert in human performance and the psychology of change, says most people work too strenuously at a frantic pace that generates stress and reduces performance. You can perform better if you work smarter, even at 80% or 90% of your current buzz. If you've read human potential success books, some of this will sound familiar, but Kriegel focuses on becoming successful while having a full personal life. He quotes managers and employees, and outlines exactly what you should do. You're on your own figuring out what a 90% effort amounts to, but if you're a mid-level manager or executive who likes Kriegel's idea of winning-by-easing-up, we recommend that you somehow find the time to read his book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hors d'oeuvres rather than a seven-course dinner, June 4, 2007

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn Hard (Paperback)

In this volume as in previous volumes (notably If It Ain't Broke...Break It! co-authored with Louis Patler in 1992 and Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers co-authored with David Brandt in 1996), Robert Kriegel offers a title, subtle, clever chapter titles, and a few insights that attract attention. That is not easy to do, especially now when there are almost 300,000 books in print that address many of the same issues Kriegel does.

Out of curiosity, as I read each of the 27 chapters, I attempted to formulate a key point or guideline for each, given the chapter's title. I found this to be an especially useful exercise, not because I learned anything new; rather, because I was reminded of what I already knew but tend to neglect. For example, without having as yet read the book, what do these chapter titles suggest to you?

"Rushing Slows You Down"
"Try Easier"
"Joe DiMaggio Never Bunted"
"Think Like a Beginner"
"Odd Couples Make Perfect Partners"

The chances are that what you come up with in response to these chapter titles is quite similar to what Kriegel recommends.

Of course, you already know that haste often makes waste. Kriegel observes that as a result of the emphasis on speed, "everyone has shifted into high gear, rushing, racing, and running. The workplace has been inflicted with hurry sickness. It's full-tilt boogie time. No slow dancing allowed. What's the problem? You're thinking. You want speed; you've got to speed up." Right? "Wrong! Speed doesn't come from rushing. The opposite is true. Rushing actually slows you down." This is only one example of several hundred observations that Kriegel shares throughout his book.

Note: Presumably William Shakespeare had a Latin expression in mind ("festina lente," make haste slowly) when he has Norfolk express this concern in Henry VIII:

"We may outrun
By violent swiftness that which we run at,
And lose by over-running."

My suggestion to those who consider purchasing this book (currently for only $11.66 from Amazon and Borders online) is that they read various Customer Reviews of Kriegel's books and then take advantage of the opportunity to sample some of the actual material in one or preferably several of them. Kriegel's style is not for everyone, nor is all of his advice immediately relevant to each person's own needs and interests.

We all know that there are times when we have to work "damn hard" and even then, the results are not always satisfactory. We also appreciate the importance of speed while recognizing that haste can "make waste." Of course, Kriegel knows all this. He has worked "damn hard" to develop his own career. I know him only by reading his books. He comes across as a dynamic, hard-charging, and charming person with a lively sense of humor. Never dull. Sometimes enlightening.

As other reviewers of Kriegel's various books have also suggested, however, he offers no head-snapping revelations and tends to recycle many of his unconventional opinions without developing them in depth. Stated another way, Kriegel offers more advice than analysis. If you need some thought-provoking perspectives and cage-rattling opinions on career development and especially productivity, this book could offer what you seek.

But if you need help with identifying and then addressing root causes that are limiting your success in business, there are other, more substantial sources to consider. For example, Tom Rath's recently published StrengthsFinder 2.0. Those who purchase a copy have exclusive access to a Web site (i.e. http://www.strengthsfinder.com/) at which valuable diagnostic exercises and results analysis are available - at no additional cost -- from the Gallup organization.