I Hate People...But It's Nothing Personal

Hating Heinousness

Besides what words of wisdom you might find on this blog or in our I Hate People! business book, there is plenty of other useful info out on the web to help you deal with those implacable office oafs. You just need to know where to look.

Someone who knows her stuff when it comes to tangling with troublesome teammates is Nicole Williams, author of the bestselling Wildly Sophisticated: A Bold New Attitude for Career Success and Earn What You’re Worth, as well as the more recent Girl On Top.

This week she posted some handy hints over on HumanResourcesIQ.com for dealing with particularly obnoxious co-workers — some techniques that can help whether you're having to face a Bulldozer, a Switchblade or a Stop Sign.

Here's her opening salvo:

She talks down to you like you are a child, keeps spreadsheets of your mistakes, withholds vital information from you and blames you for every problem that comes up. Her number 1 goal is to make you look bad. She’s your worst nightmare, a living, breathing she-devil…a truly heinous co-worker.

How do you work with someone who would love to see you fail? You’ve probably already done what any rational person would do: You reassessed your own work style and fixed any problems that might be fueling her rage. You swallowed your pride and tried to win her over with kindness and consistent professionalism. Unfortunately, these tactics aren’t always enough. Here are six tips to help you come out on top...

To get to the good stuff, click on over to Six Tips to Deal with a Heinous Co-Worker.

Hating Rubber Bands

Sure, this video is a few years old. And it's scripted, as an ad for a stationery chain store. It's still kind of funny, safe for work, and a good way to spend 34 seconds to yourself.

Hating Details (or "The Snore-closure")

Bank of America — already dressed down in this space for bad decisions, mismanagement and conduct unbecoming a major financial institution — has now perfected the "snore-closure". That's when a bank forecloses on a house that they don't even have a stake in. Just ask Charlie and Maria Cardosa of Spring Hill, Florida, about it.

Accoding to news reports, Charlie says that he shot his life's savings — about $140 grand — in 2005 to pay cash for the three-bedroom house with a pool. He and his wife live in New Bedford, Mass., and were renting the house out to a single mother and her two teenaged sons. The renters freaked last fall when three guys showed up to clean out the house.

A BofA real estate agent assured the Cardozas that everything would be set straight. That assurance was followed by a landscaper breaking through a gate to mow the lawn in the backyard to get the house ready for resale. The tenants fled and Charlie had to leave his disabled wife and drive to Florida to make sure his house didn't disappear.

The locks on the house had been changed and the front door hads a lockbox on it when he arrived, the power and gas had been turned off and the pipes were frozen. Charlie had to break into his own house and use boltcutters on the lockbox, then prove to police that he was the rightful owner.

It turns out the paperwork that BofA reps were waving around had the wrong address on it. They were aiming for a place across the street and a few doors down. But the bank was in a place big institutions get to way too frequently — that place where they are right and the little guy is wrong. And they couldn't be bothered to sort out the details. By the time they did sift through the fine points, it was too late to retrieve possessions, including photos, that the Cardosas had stored at the house which had been cleared out by the bank.

There's a lawsuit underway now, claiming hardship and financial loss. More than anything, Charlie and Maria would just like someone to apologize. Judging by the way the bank has handled their affairs to date, that's unlikely to happen. Fortunately, for the Cardosas, they'll likely benefit from the only way big institutions do business — fix a problem by throwing money at it.

— Marc Hershon

Guest Post: Eight Soloist Secrets About Side Projects

I’m a big fan of the whole Soloist concept. Anytime you branch out and do your own thing unencumbered is a good time. Couple that with a bunch of Soloists getting together to form an Ensemble and, to me, that just oozes creativity and innovation.

As a refresher, a Soloist is a highly creative type who can invent and build stuff. She relies on a group of liked-minded individuals for support, ideas and inspiration — her Ensemble. The Soloist thrives on solving novel problems and hates the corporate drones (or Sheeple) that get in her way. One thing I realized is that to be a better Soloist, you need to nurture your side project skills. Side projects are the ultimate training ground for hitting your creative stride and building innovative stuff.

What’s a Side Project?

A side project is something outside your day job that you do because 1) you love to do it, 2) you know how to do it and 3) it’s fun. Side projects are not what your boss assigns you when you have “down time” from your normal job. They are typically projects that can be dropped if life gets in the way but you always seem to want to come back to them. The power of the side project is that it’s enjoyable like a hobby but has the potential to pay the bills.

Building Up Your Side Project Muscles

Side projects can be quite involved and at times, all consuming. Choosing the right ones not only helps you develop into a better Soloist but also builds you up for bigger projects. Ultimately, you make it as a true Soloist when one of your side projects morphs into a real gig. I think it’s safe to say that most innovations that turn into something big started out as some Soloists side project. Now, to think that you can jump from part of the corporate politic directly to a Soloist super stud is just setting yourself up for disappointment. It’s better to build into it via the following methods:

1. Find your passion: It’s no surprise that people usually do what they love. A Soloist is no different. Explore your passions and figure out what potential side projects may come of of it.

2. Do a mini-project: Smaller projects are a great way to get started. Start out with one that will take a week, then maybe a month. Building up like this will strengthen your Soloist skills so that when you form an Ensemble, you will be ready to lead.

3. Hang out with other Soloists: Creativity and innovation go hand in hand with inspiration. Inspiration comes in many forms but no other form is as stimulating as interacting with other like minded people. Ideas flow, debates rage and things get done.

4. Collaborate with someone: Collaboration with another Soloist is a great way to leverage your combined skills. It’s also a great way to learn how to vet ideas and figure out your work and leadership style.

5. Reach outside your comfort zone: Sticking to what you know can limit your creativity. Reach outside your comfort zone and explore new ideas and techniques. Many an invention came about because someone took two totally separate ideas and combined them.

6.  Fail miserably: One thing that all Soloists need to understand is that they will fail. Failure is part of creativity and innovation. Without failure, you will never know your limits. Failing on a side project is the perfect laboratory to explore failure without adverse effects.

7.  Volunteer: Helping others is inspiring. Pick your favorite charity and help out. Seeing how other organizations function can inspire new threads of thought that will lead to some new take on an old idea or problem.

8. Try and sell something: Once you complete one of your side projects, try and sell it. There is nothing more humbling than trying to sell something. It can be the ultimate validation of an idea and it teaches you how to think like a user or customer.

The main thing about side projects is that they really should be fun. Initially, you will be doing this for the sheer enjoyment of the experience (read "for free"). So pick something that inspires you, yet is manageable. That way, you get the creative boost without the dreaded scope creep. Nurturing your side project skills will not only give you a creative outlet, it will make you better at your day job. In fact, it might even lead to your next day job.

— Jarie Bolander

An engineer by training and an entrepreneur by nature, Jarie Bolander is presently VP of R&D at Tagent, a company working on breakthrough technology that will help reduce medical errors. Jarie also blogs about innovation, management and entrepreneurship at The Daily MBA and has recently published his first book, Frustration Free Technical Management. You can also follow him on Twitter @thedailymba

Hating is Beautiful in Silicon Valley

Breaking myths is a time honored way to inspire hate, as the international communications consultant Elisabetta Ghisini (and head of Verba International) just discovered when she blogged about our book for the top Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera. Elisabetta wrote that I Hate People! (or Io Odio La Gente, the title of our Italian edition), “is also a social phenomenon, it demystifies the myth of teamwork and shreds to pieces the perception that working as a group is more productive.”

This was not well received by certain Italians. Ghisini (author of Communicating the American Way) added fuel to the fire when she called our concept of the Soloist, “a revolutionary concept where power is no longer measured by the number of people working for you.”

This earned her hate from certain Italian readers of her blog who frowned on her casting doubt on the cult of American teamwork. What makes this ironic is that she has told me repeatedly that Italians admire Soloists and are naturally skeptical about bloated teams. But Italians also revere Silicon Valley and view it as the Hollywood of high tech. By suggesting that the Valley was no longer infatuated with hierarchy and massive head counts she had pierced the myth.

Of course there’s a deeper irony. No one hates and loves like Italians. A spirited free exchange of ideas in business comes naturally to them. Phony rituals surrounding teamwork are frowned upon, and talent and egos are respected and loud voices and abrupt manners easily forgiven. But by writing that our Soloist manifesto has become “defacto” in the best Bay Area companies, that Silicon Valley is “a conglomerate of prima donnas,” Elisabetta may have gone a step too far.

She painted an honest picture of modern business that conflicts with the fantasy projected to some Italians.

Bravo, Elisabetta, for your bold blog post — proof of the indomitable power of the Soloist spirit. We look forward to a day where more individuals will be able to say without fear,

“Hating is Beautiful in Silicon Valley.”

— Jonathan Littman

Hard to Hate What You Don't Have

Have you seen Apple's new iPad? It was just announced today, with all of the usual Steve Jobs hoopla. Looks like an iPhone on steroids. Some of the functionality you can see in videos online is pretty awesome — like pages flipping when you read an ebook, for instance.

For all it's inherent Appleness, however, the question hovers: "Do I need this thing?" Of course, three years ago I didn't "need" my iPhone. 26 years ago, I didn't "need" my first Macintosh computer. Now, of course, I can't imagine getting through the day very well without them. (Of course, I didn't "need" Apple's failed foray into the PDA world, the Newton, and neither did a lot of other people...)

So only time will tell if the iPad is a "must have" of great social and business import. It will help to see the thing up close and personal. Even maybe get my mitts on one. Even better would be Apple's realizing how useful it would be to have a certain cantankerous author seen toting one around from coffee shop to coffee shop in high visibility style.

I would do that for you, Steve. Really, I would.

I'll be waiting by my iPhone for the call.

— Marc Hershon

Bury Books, Inspire Reading

Innovation is a funny thing. To break through you often have to muster the courage and insight to let go of what you know and cherish. Take books, for instance. The last few years publishers, booksellers and educators have bemoaned the sorry state of publishing and reading. Publishers in particular have complained that computers, cell phones and television have stolen the time and interest of readers.

The truth is that it’s time to bury books. New York publishers and floundering bookstore chains have contributed mightily to the demise of books in America. Herds of publishers have focused on celebrity books in the same way Hollywood has blindly thrown its millions behind special effects extravaganzas. Chains have drained the passion and human connection out of buying books. The traditional book industry in America is dead.

Reading, meanwhile, is about to reinvented. It’s not just that Amazon, Sony and even Barnes & Noble have recently come out with promising e-books. Apple is about to toss its iSlate in the ring, widely rumored to redefine the reading - and distribution - of newspapers, magazines and books.

Writing has been my livelihood for more than twenty years.  I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I loved the feel of one of my newly published books in my hand, or the glossy appearance on a newsstand of one of my longer articles. But all good things must come to an end.

A couple of months ago I bought a Kindle because it was time. In college I wrote my papers on an IBM Selectric typewriter, but within months of graduating I plugged in an IBM XT, and within a couple of years had the good fortune to buy an early Macintosh. I have never looked back.

Letting go is part of innovation.

My early experiences with e-books remind me of my initial experiences with computers. What separated computers from typewriters and other office tools was that word that came before it - personal. You felt it was yours, or a part of you, something that extended your intellect and capabilities.

Curled up in a chair, reading from my Kindle, I can see that this is the future. Books have had a long run, hundreds, if not thousands of years, depending on how you count. They won’t go away today or tomorrow or even a decade from now. But here’s why Apple, Amazon,  Sony or some upstart will make them obsolete.

Youth is the future. My two daughters, 12 and 15, are of course skilled on computers, cell phones and iPods. My youngest is a prolific reader, while my oldest has been more captivated by some of the better serial TV shows that draw her into her laptop. She reads too, but lately, the paper book has fought a losing battle against the immediacy of her iBook screen.

Reading – for five minutes or hours – is about immersion. It’s about a deeper connection. Apple will be aiming to create that bond with my daughters the same way it has hooked millions on its iPods and iPhones.

We don’t yet know what this new world will look like but I’m optimistic. Traditional books are wonderful, but they have their limits, like my old IBM Selectric typewriter. Books haven’t really enjoyed a serious innovation update in a couple of centuries. What we love most about them are the language and ideas. The paper and bright covers are really no more than wrapping on a present. But that physical beauty is also a barrier. We can’t quickly or easily connect to other ideas and language. As great as books are, they are still a bit like my old IBM Selectric typewriter.

Apple is about to come out with what may be the biggest advance in reading since Guttenberg’s printing press. New York publishers and book chains have a lot to fear.  But I see all sorts of possibilities for authors, educators and companies. The gatekeepers are losing control, and books are about to be liberated.

You want to know the future of publishing? All you have to do is watch the kids. If teenagers love this new digital immersion model there will be no turning back the page.

— Jonathan Littman

We're part of the revolution! Sure, you can still buy as many "dead tree" copies of our book, I Hate People!, that you want. But it's also available in a Kindle edition over on Amazon and in e-book format from Barnes & Noble!

Hire McGwire, Bury Bonds

What's the moral of Mark McGwire's decade-late, half-baked steroids confession? White sluggers who juice get jobs, black all-time home run kings get indicted and run out of the game.

The larger storyline in Major League Baseball's long running freak show has been largely ignored.

Mark McGwire, the former home run monster with the Oakland A's and later the St. Louis Cardinals, boasting Popeye-sized arms and eye-popping homers, has gotten a very different ride by baseball officials, the government and the media than his erstwhile San Francisco Giants neighbor, Barry Bonds.

It's a black and white issue.

McGwire's steroid-jacked and record-breaking 1998 home run bash is widely believed to have been a public service drug announcement for professional ballplayers and youths everywhere that Barry Bonds could hardly ignore.

But let's compare the treatment both men received. During McGwire's astonishing 1998 home run chase with Sammy Sosa, a reporter spied a bottle of a steroid precursor in McGwire's locker.

Here's what we know. Jeff Novitzky, the intrepid BALCO investigator, did not go rooting through McGwire's trash looking for syringes. No federal grand jury was convened. Commissioner Bud Selig did not order an investigation. The media? McGwire continued to be treated as a national hero. Not a single reporter or newspaper bothered to follow up and ferret out what was staring us all in the face -- Mark McGwire was clearly taking steroids.

Fast-forward a few years, to 2002. Jeff Novitzky started telling Iran White, an undercover drug investigator, that he thought Barry Bonds was on the juice. Agent Novitzky began rooting through BALCO's trash, and with the help of ambitious San Francisco prosecutors, led a several year, 50 million dollar steroids investigation.

Roughly three-dozen athletes were called before the grand jury. Several black athletes and a black coach were indicted. An obscure white female cyclist was convicted. Meanwhile, famous white athletes, Jason Giambi of the Yankees, former 49er, Bill Romanowski, and others, were not charged.

Barry Bonds, of course, was the central target. Indicted on perjury charges, he's been in and out of court the past two years, though weak-kneed prosecutors have already punted on one opportunity to go to trial. Reports have alleged that two or more Major League owners colluded in keeping Bonds from playing the past few years, conduct that if proven sounds like a crime.

But Bonds is now 45 -- and officially retired.

Fans might say he deserves his fate. But it's hard not to see the role that color plays here. Everyone knew McGwire was on the juice, and nobody, not the league, not reporters, and not Agent Jeff Novitzky, saw a reason to launch an investigation. This week, legendary Chicago Cubs manager, Lou Piniella said McGwire deserves to be voted into baseball's hall of fame, saying, "I don't think there is anybody out there that hasn't done something that they don't feel sorry for. America forgives and forgets."

Barry Bonds' success - and predicament - has earned a radically different reaction. We can tell ourselves all we want that he's getting what he deserved, but the scorecard tells it all: 

Hire McGwire, Bury Bonds.

— Jonathan Littman