How to Work for an Idiot: Survive & Thrive-- Without Killing Your Boss (Paperback)

by John Hoover (Author) "Author John Irving advises aspiring writers to write about what they know..." (more)
Key Phrases: paranoid boss, recovering idiots, frozen coffee concoction, Idiot Boss, God Boss, Buddy Boss (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
For more than two decades, Dr. John Hoover has written books on leadership, creativity, and organizational performance, extolling the virtues of flattened organizations, collaborative leadership, and shared responsibility. His clients welcomed him, praised him...yet (he felt) completely ignored his advice! This book contains the confession of a recovering "I-Boss" (Idiot Boss). After decades of writing and consulting, Dr. John finally realized that the vast majority of people he kept trying to "energize," "motivate," and "enlighten" were, well, idiots. Also he was an idiot for trying to change them. Instead, he has decided to enlighten you, who actually have to continue working for difficult and demanding bosses. You cannot change them. You cannot challenge them. Yet, you can survive them, even thrive under them, if you learn how to deal with them using this book. It offers hope for the spirit and strategy for the mind to help you deal with your work place situation.

About the Author
NoBio --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Career Press; 1 edition (November 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564147045
• ISBN-13: 978-1564147042
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #113,148 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great "Humor" book, miscategorized as "Business", June 21, 2005

By	Kent Ponder (Albuquerque., NM USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I picked this book up while with my son in a Kinko's copy shop, and was pleasantly surprised. As a past employe, then president and owner of two national-distribution corporations, I've read a variety of business books, and must say I disagree with the negative reviews here, based upon taking this book too seriously. I have found Hoover's book to contain marvelous, David Sedaris-style wit and panache, though I do acknowledge that its value as humor exceeds its worth as a practical workplace guide.

In fact, the book is such a humorous parody, it really should be catalogued as "Humor" instead of "Business," as is inappropriately indicated on the back cover. A person who picks this up thinking it's mainly a business book can end up irritated, as other reviews here reveal.

I'll let just one example suffice as indicative of how humor is prioritized over practical business value. Hoover advises you to wear suits that are too large so that your boss will think you're earning too little to afford enough food.

In my opinion, the section on how to be promoted by being transparent and unnoticed, alone, is worth the price of the book. Essentially, in this section Hoover explains, tongue in cheek, how to advance yourself by being unnoticed until you're the last person standing, after the CEO has been arrested and the other replacement candidates are under indictment.

If you appreciate people like Sedaris and even Dave Letterman, I think this book will provide you a lot of insightful humor. I think caustic reviewers took this book much too seriously -- and -- seriously missed the point.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just like my life., May 19, 2004

By	tony mennite "Tony 2 Fla" (Hermitage Tenn.) - See all my reviews

"I've worked for a lot of idiot bosses in my life. But, after reading "How to Work for an Idiot," I figured out for the first time that the energy I spent complaining about them was wasted. Dr. John's mixture of humor and real life examples made me realize that being angry and bitter is easy. Everybody expects that. But, putting myself under the microscope is the only way to make things better for me. Like he says in the book, "If I'm working for somebody less talented and intelligent than I am, and I allow that person to make my life miserable, who's the idiot?"

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Funny but no meat, June 24, 2004

By A Customer

We've become used to catchy titles for books. And for obvious reasons, they sell more books. But catchy or humorous titles usually are just that...titles. In the case of this book, the humor doesn't end with the title. It is in fact an entire book of humor. Upon completion of it, I felt like I had just spent a night at the Improv, rather than learning about a serious business issue. Now don't get me wrong, it is an enjoyable book to read and at some parts I found myself laughing quite often. However, I was looking for some serious knowledge to go along with the chuckles. This book simply does not deliver that. Throughout the book, the author makes conscious (or possibly unconscious)choices to divert the topic towards humor rather than dive deeper into the serious aspects of what an employee is do when they work for a terrible boss. In short, he "chickens out" when real dialogue is necessary.
If you're looking for a book to make you laugh, or something light-hearted for a Sunday afternoon read, this is it. If however, you work for an "idiot-boss" and need some serious guidance and direction, skip this book altogether. It will be of no use to you.