Business Without the Bullsh*t: 49 Secrets and Shortcuts You Need to Know (40 page)

This book exists only because of my agent Lorin Rees, who encouraged me to develop the concept, and my editor Gretchen Young; Rick Wolff, publisher of Business Plus; and assistant editor Allyson Rudolph. They helped me hone the message of this book into something more original and pertinent.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to the excellent and talented editors I’ve worked with at Inc.com: Nicole Carter, Rachel Elson, Nicole Richardson, and Editor in Chief Eric Schurenberg, who brought me along when he moved from CBS to Inc.com.

There are some people who deserve special recognition:

The chapter about annoying coworkers grew out of a series of blog posts that riffed on Sylvia Lafair’s excellent book
Don’t Bring It to Work: Breaking the Family Patterns That Limit Success
. The categories in this book are based on my own experience, but the idea of segmenting coworkers in this way comes from Sylvia.

Similarly, the chapter on dirty office politics, though based almost entirely on my own experience, is indebted to Mike Phipps and Colin Gautrey, whose book
21 Dirty Tricks at Work: How to Beat the Game of Office Politics
reminded me of all the times I fell for those tricks when I was first starting out. In addition, the chapter about lying with statistics has its roots in Darrell Huff and Irving Geis’s classic
How to Lie with Statistics
.

The chapter on working a room is based on ideas about elevator pitches that Barry Rhein shared with me. My thoughts on coaching are heavily influenced by Linda Richardson. Art Mortell taught
me about coping with rejection, which is wisdom that’s reflected throughout this book.

The chapter on management fads owes a lot to my pal Jeff Pratt, who regularly fills me in on the management activity inside the company in which he’s worked for the past quarter century (a significant achievement on his part).

As always, my copy editor Lauren Ruiz of Pure-text.net has been helpful in reading drafts and providing suggestions and corrections.

My friends Larry Jacobs, David Rotman, and Gerhard Gschwandtner have provided encouragement and inspiration throughout this process, as have my wonderful wife, Natalie, and my equally wonderful children, Alexander and Cordelia.

The following subscribers to my newsletter were kind enough to review the draft during the writing process: Katja Ahokas, Ann-Marie Antic, John Banks, Cat Barnard, Iain M. Bates, Kim Blair, Kevin Boswell, Gustavo Brum, Paul Burkhardt, Yvonne Burns, Sara Byfield, Vito Carrozoo, Bernard Chege, Leslie Clements, Larry Coppenrath, Michelle Craft, Nathan Craven, Lori Crider, Tim Cromwell, Otmara Diaz-Cooper, Troy Draper, Laura Carrington Duckett, Ahma Duranai, Stephen Eltze, Jonathan Fearon, Kirstie Fiora, Olivier Fontana, Sue Garvan, Henry Gertcher, John Giartonia, Nicole Green, Steve Hamburg, Paul Herring, Rob Hill, Peg Hosky, Mary Hume, Lori Humphrey, Kathi Hunt, Franklyn R. Jarine, Tanya Jovan, Brian Keller, Wayne Killns, Pat Kinnison, Professor Linda Maria Koldau, Kevin Land, Lorelie Lewis, Lorenzo Martelletti, Dale Martin, Ryan McCartney, Bob McIntyre, Grant McNulty, Srinath Mitragotri, James Napier, Samuel Nebel, Jim Newkirk, Eric Noack, Tom Nosal, Ivo Oltmans, Dawen Peng, Christer Pyyhtia, Stephanie Quaile, Stephen Revel, Tony Roach, Ray Roberts, Lanny Rootenberg, John Rowe, George Scherma, David Schmidt, Lauren Selikoff, Eric Shefferman, Dan Spacek, Alex Spletter, Confidence Stimpson, Andrei Stoica, Jakub Szrodt, Tim Taggart, Lauren Talbot,
Adam Tillman, Paul Troisi, Lee Tucker, Susan Tyson, Lahat Tzvi, Rick Valdeserri, James Vos, Ryan Waterstradt, Troy Williams, Steve Windham, and Tad Woolley.

Finally, this book is dedicated to the millions of readers of my blog whose selection of posts to go viral helps me hone my ideas and understand what people really need to know to be successful.

—Geoffrey James

Geoffrey James
’s award-winning blog has appeared on CBS Interactive and Inc.com. His writing has also appeared in
Fast Company
,
Wired
,
Men’s Health
, and the
New York Times
.

How to Say It: Business to Business Selling

Scientific Selling
(coauthor)

Success Secrets from Silicon Valley

Business Wisdom of the Electronic Elite

The Tao of Programming

The Zen of Programming

Computer Parables

Document Databases

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This publication is designed to provide competent and reliable information regarding the subject matter covered. However, it is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, financial, accounting, or other professional advice. Laws and practices often vary from state to state and if legal, financial, or other expert assistance is required, the services of a professional should be sought. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any liability that is incurred from the use or application of the contents of this book.

Copyright © 2014 by Geoffrey James

Cover design by Eric Baker

Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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First ebook edition: May 2014

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