Business Without the Bullsh*t: 49 Secrets and Shortcuts You Need to Know

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For Cordelia and Alexander

For the past thirty years, I’ve been on a quest to discover tactics and techniques that cut through the business world’s bullsh*t and help you get things done more quickly and easily than you ever thought possible.

As a journalist I’ve interviewed hundreds of executives, ranging from living legends to unknown entrepreneurs struggling with their initial start-ups, as well as dozens of sales and marketing gurus. As an engineer and marketer I’ve participated in the growth of a wildly productive organization and observed—firsthand and up close—as two huge companies disintegrated under the weight of their own collective stupidity.

For the past seven years I’ve had daily conversations about surviving and thriving in the corporate world with the millions of readers of my blog, which has appeared on BNET and the CBS News website, and is currently on Inc.com.

Business Without the Bullsh*t
is the result of that quest.

This is not a book of theory. It’s a collection of practical approaches to the real-life situations that take place every day inside just about every company.

There is, however, an underlying philosophy about business and bullsh*t that underpins this entire book. You can use this book without knowing that philosophy, but for readers who appreciate context, here goes:

In the past, most businesspeople worked for a specific company and often expected to work for that company for decades. Some firms even touted a policy of “lifetime” employment.

In those days there was an implicit contract between employer and employee. The employer offered job security and in return the employee was loyal. Employers looked askance at a prospective employee who hopped from job to job.

At the very bottom of the corporate totem pole were freelancers and consultants, the losers who couldn’t land a real job and were thus reduced to constantly selling and reselling their services.

That world is gone forever. Rather than offering job security, companies now move jobs wherever they can be done more cheaply. Similarly, those who stick with one employer for too long now seem out of touch or lacking in initiative.

Today everyone is a freelancer. Even if you’ve got a salaried position with benefits, perks, paid vacations, and a fancy title, you’re still a freelancer. If you aren’t constantly selling and reselling your services, you’ll be unemployed faster than you can say
pink slip
.

This means that, above all else, you must not just keep your options open but actively and constantly develop new job opportunities. As a freelancer, your goal must always be to land your next job, hopefully one that’s more fun and pays better than the one you’ve already got.

Inherent in the obsolete notion of job security is a management hierarchy: you work for a boss, who works for a bigger boss, who works for the CEO, who works for the board of directors, which works for the investors.

While that structure still exists in the corporate world, when
you’re a freelancer, it no longer makes sense to think of yourself as “being managed” by somebody else. A boss is more like a client or customer, which means you must manage the relationship.

Similarly, the old concepts of what it means to be the boss are increasingly meaningless. Your employees—the ones who are smart and therefore “get” that they’re freelancers—aren’t going to fall in line just because you’ve got a job title.

That’s just the start. As a freelancer you must be capable of managing not just upward and downward, but sideways as well. You must influence and convince your coworkers to help you achieve your goals, usually by helping them achieve theirs.

Finally, and most important, you must learn to manage inwardly, controlling your thoughts, habits, and actions so they serve your greater purpose.

Because you’re now a freelancer and your own boss, you’re also a salesperson, whether you want to be one or not.

If you can’t (or won’t) sell yourself, your services, and your ideas, you might as well give up now. If you’re not unemployed already, you will be soon. And you’ll probably stay that way.

Despite this, a surprising number of people are reluctant to learn how to sell, probably because popular culture views the process of selling with a combination of disdain, distrust, and disgust.

In nearly every movie, play, and television show in which they appear as characters, salespeople are depicted as slick-talking con men or pitiful sad sacks. This prejudice against selling extends into academia, where only a handful of colleges teach Sales in their business schools.

The truth is that selling is, and always has been, the soul of business. Companies that can’t sell their products go bankrupt. Even nonprofits and government agencies depend entirely on
somebody’s
ability to sell the usefulness of whatever service those organizations provide.

If you want true career security, learn to sell.

Since you’re going to be managing other people (upward, downward, and sideways) and selling your value to them daily, your most important management and selling skill is the ability to make yourself understood.

In the past, being obtuse carried some business value. While engineers and scientists were expected to communicate with precision, businesspeople often found it useful to blur issues. “You can’t pin Jell-O to the wall,” as the saying went.

Today, however, we live and work in a world of massive information overload. According to McKinsey, the average corporate worker sends and receives over a hundred e-mails daily, an activity that consumes nearly a third of every workday.

To make matters worse, the inexorable juggernauts of globalization and computerization have made the business of business more complex. As a result, whatever value once resided in bureaucratic double-talk has long departed.

In an information-rich world, the real challenge is to simplify what’s complex, without being simplistic. Whoever does this well commands vast power over those who otherwise would be drowning in the endless sea of information.

For decades high-tech firms have touted the absurd notion that technology, by itself, solves problems. Technology only increases the speed with which humans perform selected activities, an increase that may either solve problems or create new ones.

For example, when first introduced into corporations, e-mail was supposed to improve productivity. Where it had once taken an hour
to type and distribute a memo, one could now, with e-mail, do the same task in mere minutes.

Unfortunately, while some people used the convenience of e-mail to reduce the time spent writing memos, others used the same convenience to increase the number of memos they send, contributing to information overload.

While we may be technologically more sophisticated, the human behaviors in the modern corporation—building alliances, recruiting mentors, selling ideas, and so forth—are identical to those found in every period of history.

Thus, while it’s valuable to understand how to use today’s technology, an ability to create value emerges from understanding other people, discovering what motivates them, and learning how to satisfy their individual needs.

Because of this, my book focuses on human beings and human behaviors rather than on technology. While I discuss techniques for social media and e-mail, for instance, the emphasis is on using such technologies to influence other people.

As you read this book, you may sometimes find it difficult to imagine yourself following some of the advice or attempting to replicate the sample conversations. Such feelings are a signal that you
must
follow the advice.

For example, suppose you’re frightened by the idea of interrupting a yelling boss, insisting that he treat you professionally, and then walking out if he refuses to comply. Your fear shows a predisposition to be a victim.

Since that’s true, the only way you can prevent yourself from actually becoming a victim is to take actions that make you uncomfortable even when you are simply reading about them. And that takes courage.

Courage is not the same as being fearless. Only fools are fearless. Courage means taking risks to get what you want. Courage means facing the reality that if you stand up for yourself, you might lose your job.

In this book I explain how to lay the groundwork to ensure that you not only don’t lose your job but are constantly positioned for a better one. But all the advice in the world is useless unless you can summon the courage to follow it.

In the previous paragraphs I attempt to redefine, or at least ask you to question, common beliefs about the workplace, your role in it, and the nature of your work relationships.

I’m doing this because beliefs determine whether or not you’ll be, or can be, successful in business. To be successful you must differentiate between facts, which are pieces of reality, and beliefs, which are only your interpretation of what that reality
means
.

Your beliefs, not the facts, determine how well (or badly) you’ll perform in any given situation. To illustrate this point, suppose the economy is growing very slowly. The economy is a fact. Your beliefs come into play when you decide what that fact means to you.

For example, one person might interpret a slow economy as meaning that “it will be nearly impossible for me to find a job.” That’s a belief. Another person might interpret a slow economy as meaning that “companies need my help more than ever.” That’s also a belief.

The same exact fact can thus generate two opposing beliefs. Which is “true”? It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the person who’s convinced finding a job will be nearly impossible is far less likely to find one, or interview well for it, than the person who’s convinced she’s needed now more than ever.

The business world is full of challenges. Sometimes the game is
rigged. Sometimes people do weird things. Sometimes deals go sour. Sometimes your plans don’t pan out.

So what? Stuff happens. However, you’re far more likely to pick yourself up, try again, and ultimately succeed if you adopt beliefs that help you remain optimistic, enthusiastic, and positive.

This does not mean being blind to reality or looking at the world through Pollyanna glasses. It simply means choosing beliefs that let you interpret reality in a way that helps you achieve the results you want.

Conventional wisdom is that business is complicated and its principles difficult to master. However, while every industry and every profession requires specific expertise, the business of business tends to be rather simple.

Unfortunately, the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of management consultants, industry analysts, and corporate trainers depends on keeping things complex—because, after all, once you realize that business is simple, why would you hire them?

Beyond your own area of expertise, all you need to be truly successful in the business world is a handful of secrets and shortcuts. There’s no mystery to being successful. It is truly within your grasp.

And that’s what this book is all about. I’ve gathered together the most effective techniques and tactics that I’ve discovered in my lifelong quest. And I’ve made them as simple and easy to understand as I possibly could.

Business Without the Bullsh*t
isn’t intended to be read from cover to cover, as you might read a novel or a traditional business book. Instead, it contains lists of advice and step-by-step plans to handle specific situations.

You can therefore turn to any chapter (or secret, as I call them) and immediately apply the techniques. Each chapter also includes a “shortcut”—a quick reminder that encapsulates the secret at a glance.

While each secret can be learned and applied separately, I’ve grouped them so related secrets are presented together. For example, “How to Land a Job Interview” is followed immediately by “How to Ace a Job Interview.”

Overall, each group or part of the book covers a different facet of your business life, so you can read and use that part when it’s most useful to the current stage of your career.

I start by explaining how to manage your boss because, based on the comments I receive from my blog readers, that’s the most pressing need. I then expand outward to managing coworkers and employees, and then inward to managing yourself and your own career.

The first four parts thus provide what you need to know to get the most out of everyone you work with, including yourself.

The fifth part presents tools you’ll need to achieve clarity and sell your ideas and the value of your services. The sixth and seventh parts handle special situations that might otherwise throw you off track.

One final thing. Much of the wisdom in this book emerged from comments and e-mails sent to me by the readers of my blog. I’d therefore be remiss if I didn’t offer to give back. If you e-mail me with a question or a comment ([email protected]), I’ll absolutely answer as best I can.

This book is for you.