Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

Robert Kriegel has made his name crusading for more efficiency in the workplace. He loves to take commonly held workplace ideas and smash them to pieces. In How to Succeed... Kriegel looks at the long work-week and so-called "digital helpers."

In an age where gadgets are designed to create more leisure time and promote convenience, we are working more than ever. Our average work week is climbing higher and higher (I know mine is at least) and, since the proliferation of cell phones and wireless Internet, it has become harder to escape the office.

Kriegel provides us with an out. This book lays the groundwork for a new, more efficient working style with the classic tagline, "Work smarter, not harder."

The book is an excellent source for interesting thinking-points and its easy-to-read teaching style makes Kriegel's ideas very accessible. Anybody will be able to see his points and implement solutions in their own lives (should they so wish).

How to Succeed... is a well-written and helpful antidote to the rat race.

I'll admit it, the title got me. I probably read two business books a year, and this one didn't offer anything new. Most of it was new twists on the same old rules. It was not inspiring, motivating, or compelling.

It has ever been a race to meet the deadlines, blindly following up the routine work pressures and sacrificing the wee hours of life in order to gain achievement to label n brand it as `success' - This is the major folly of most efficient people at workplace who pay a price missing wider opportunities to enhance better future. The game is all about Working wisely and not Damn Hard as the Author advice cool tips on how to succeed in Business with a shapened job performance pulling in the effective measures to take charge of total control of time schedules. Robert Kriegel's own experience has inspirational theme to add to productivity with less efforts. He focus on more efficiency reducing stress levels at workplace. With latest technology creeping in day in and out, cell phones, computers, internet demands more Time, money and energy levels to cope up with mounting work pressures. I personally feel, work never has a dead end but life's frustration do! And this is where Robert's insights are really helpful to be a success and re-think over working Damn hard as its endless. There is a time for let-go and just do nothing sometimes to rejuvenate oneself again and Robert's book is a tip on ice-berg `Work wonders, work wise ways' and there you scale higher to achieve in this economy crunch - all gains and no pains. I personally recommend this book for workoholic Businessmen and management leaders. A must read