Ugh. Okay. I've read The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. I've read The Search for Excellence. I've read Who Moved My Cheese? I've read The One-Minute Manager and The Black Swan and even Selling the Dream . But the how-to business book I would read again (or at least watch the movie)? The one, the only, the inimitable How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, by Shepherd Mead.
I first read this book when I was approximately 9 years old (I was a precocious child). I have no idea why I would have picked it up-- maybe I liked the cover. Maybe I liked the hit song that came from the musical: "I Believe in You," as sung by Michele Lee. But once I started reading, I was completely intrigued by the idea that anyone-- anyone!-- could game their way up the corporate ladder with just a few simple tools. Learn to say, "Let's run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes;" ease your way into an empty office; be sure to invent reasons to be absent during work hours but visible evenings and weekends; oh, and disregard all the references to "men." Surely that's "men" as in "all men are created equal," not "men" as in "men's room."
As you might have gathered, aspects of the book have not aged well (all those "men;" how to write a six-page memo), while others (how to crib, er, generate impressive ideas) are more relevant than ever, as the new and charming introduction by Stanley Bing explains. The important point, however, is that unlike Lean In, Lead from the Outside, Dare to Be Great, and even How to Win Friends and Influence People, Mead's classic has two unbeatable advantages. One: it will not make you tired before you even start reading it. And two: there's a musical version widely available for 3 bucks on streaming services.
So, if you want to succeed, go ahead-- do it without really trying!
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