false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167298024m/20519.jpg 20519 7 Machiavelli would feel at home in industry today. You don't need a birthright to be a modern prince--just an impulsive ruthlessness such as he described four centuries ago while trying to get back into the good graces of a Medici nobleman. A clever guy like him could really go places. Stanley Bing, a columnist for <I>Fortune</I>, is also a clever guy. In real life he has another name and works for a media company (a very, very clever person could probably patch together the clues he offers and figure out the company, if not the actual person), and as such he's been our spy behind corporate lines since he first started writing for <I>Esquire</I> back in 1984. In <I>What Would Machiavelli Do?</I> Bing gleefully offers hard-boiled Machiavellian advice about whom to fire in a downsizing (consultants first, secretaries last), how to make employees love you ("Give them perks.... When they're spending your money, you own them"), and why it's important that you also kick ass (one of the ways: "cutting them off curtly when they speak") and take names (so people know you'll not only hurt them, you'll also go after their friends). The overriding lesson of this book is always to love yourself, never apologize for anything you do, and when all else fails, recognize that the truth is flexible, and so can be bent any way you want. What makes all this amorality funny is that Bing plays it straight, putting his ruthless advice into an easily digestible how-to format. Sometimes the only way you can tell it's satire is when he mixes the musings of Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot in with those of modern business figures such as former Sunbeam CEO "Chainsaw" Al Dunlap. Firing people, killing people--same rules, different game. <I>--Lou Schuler</I> 21710 1992 What Would Machiavelli Do? The Ends Justify the Meanness total:80|5:18|4:24|3:31|2:7|1:0| 80 293 108 9 3 0 false false Mon Jan 26 16:14:33 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 17:13:46 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 16:14:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Mar 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Feb 19 08:26:46 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 12 14:04:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Mar 05 08:27:11 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 08:27:40 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Dec 18 07:50:40 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 07:52:36 -0800 2008 huiks.]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 21:15:31 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 21:16:38 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Mar 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 16 05:54:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 16 06:05:46 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 31 20:20:18 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 20:21:02 -0800 2008
You work hard, you save the company money, you deserve that spa day on the company time and tab. :)]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 02 12:04:49 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 02 12:08:31 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sat Nov 14 18:07:43 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 14 18:10:22 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Nov 21 08:07:23 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 08:07:23 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Wed Oct 28 00:15:39 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 00:15:39 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 20 10:56:06 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 10:56:06 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Sep 21 18:34:07 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 18:34:07 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Sep 04 19:48:11 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 19:48:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Aug 27 13:21:19 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 13:21:19 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jul 07 05:11:38 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 05:11:38 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Thu Jul 02 21:17:49 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 21:18:13 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jul 01 10:59:01 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 10:59:06 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jun 20 13:22:17 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 13:22:17 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jun 19 05:02:35 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 05:02:35 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=20519