false 3281246 3 <p> People in the high flush of a successful but sometimes frenetic business career often look with envy at those who have entered their golden years. <i>Ah!</i> they think. <i>To be retired!</i> Free to wake when you wish, to have the time to reflect on the deeper things in life, play golf or quoits, or just go fishin' in the middle of the day. The stressed-out mind boggles at the prospect, and the lip cannot help but tremble and drool. </p> <p> At the same time, you may not be emotionally-or financially-ready to hang it all up. Which is why, whether you're a withered graybeard or a teeny young future hotshot in leather jodhpurs, you need Stanley Bing's global positioning system for a sane and pleasantly successful life: <i>Executricks, or How to Retire While You're Still Working</i>. </p> <p> Bing is the ultimate corporate insider, one who has attained nosebleed altitude and worked long and hard enough to lose his desire to work long and hard enough. Over time, he has watched the power players who have made their jobs into a waking festival of indolence and fun, and gleaned a vast range of executricks they have developed over the years, based around several core concepts: </p> <ul> <li>Delegation, or getting other people to do the stuff you don't want to</li> <li>Absence, or the ability to get "work" done while not being physically on the scene</li> <li>Abuse of status</li> <li>Acting visionary when confused </li> <li>Intense engagement (used only in crisis) </li> </ul> <p> A wellspring of executricks flow from these simple precepts, including: </p> <ul> <li>The use of the cell phone and BlackBerry to establish a permanent state of simultaneous Omniscience and Not-Presence </li> <li>Roping off mealtimes as zones of defensible entitlement </li> <li>Travel as an alternative to work </li> <li>The art of the nap</li> <li>Golf-the ultimate dodge </li> <li>Philanthropy and social activism, a pleasant parallel universe </li> </ul> <p> <i>Executricks</i> is the most precious of resources for those who work hard but would rather be hardly working: a secret handbook that lays bare the stratagems of those who have already ascended to the pinnacles of power. No office, home, or backpack should be without a dog-eared copy. Early adopters earn extra points. </p> 3317562 1 6 2008 Executricks: Or How to Retire While You're Still Working total:14|5:2|4:4|3:6|2:1|1:1| 14 47 20 7 3 0 false false Sun Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 27 02:55:01 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 02:57:48 -0700 2009 2 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 14:00:03 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 14:01:45 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 14:44:41 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 14:46:02 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Sun Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 19:56:37 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 12:43:33 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jan 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 14:01:11 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 11:54:27 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 06:49:18 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 06:55:28 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Oct 21 18:44:14 -0700 2008 Fri Dec 19 20:07:23 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sun Oct 11 12:22:48 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 12:22:48 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Mon Sep 21 18:34:38 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 18:34:38 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Sep 06 11:16:31 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 11:16:31 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 17:25:14 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 17:26:21 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jun 03 16:16:15 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 18:07:18 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Apr 08 20:36:55 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 20:36:55 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Jan 20 01:49:53 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 01:49:53 -0800 2009 1 0 false false Wed Sep 10 07:34:48 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 31 06:44:31 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Thu Sep 04 17:32:11 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 17:32:11 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 20:31:54 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 20:32:23 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Tue Jun 03 19:47:33 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 03 19:47:33 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Jun 01 18:57:19 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 01 18:57:23 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue May 06 20:07:33 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 20:07:33 -0700 2008