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Office Monsters

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Office Monsters

A survival guide to corporate madness

Pearson Business,

15 min read
5 take-aways
Text available

What's inside?

Tame the monsters in your workplace — especially when they’re you.

Editorial Rating

9

getAbstract Rating

  • Innovative
  • Applicable
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Martin J Eppler and Andri Hinnen offer a witty, unorthodox take on the contemporary office environment, better known as the big shop of horrors. The authors identify an assortment of “monster” creatures – colleagues, executives, and bureaucrats – with whom you unfortunately may identify. Almost everyone has run into the “Anxiety Alien,” for example, or the “Talk Titan.” These gnarly beasts – as shown in the book’s entertaining illustrations – run amok in every workplace. Some are more dangerous than others – and some are inside you.

Summary

Office monsters abound.

Whether you realize it or not, you may be sharing office space with brutish beasts who specialize in making work life a nightmare. These goblins and ghouls generate self-doubt, sabotage collegial relationships, and can cripple entire organizations. Because they hide in plain sight, you have to learn what lurks all around you — and how to recognize the monsters in your workplace.

Realizing how many horrible beings haunt your environment —and, possibly yourself — is unsettling, but exposing them — especially those within you — strips them of their power and frees you to flourish.

Your monster-hunting mission begins with confronting your personal demons.

Begin your ghost-busting journey by identifying your internal monsters, those that fuel insecurity, hinder your thinking, and interfere with your productivity.

Be alert to these notorious creatures inhabiting your head and herd them out of your zoo.

  • The “Yes Yeti” – Volunteering for an additional project or agreeing to help an overloaded coworker does not always make you an imposition magnet, but beware. Understand that saying yes to everything...

About the Authors

Professor Martin J. Eppler, PhD, Director and Chair of Media & Communications Management at the University of St. Gallen, is an authority on information overload. Andri Hinnen, founder of the consultancy Zense, is also a St. Gallen lecturer.

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