The doormat, the jerk and the lizard brain

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The best reason to be a jerk at work is that of course no one will listen to you or support you or embrace your ideas — you’re a jerk. The best reason to be a doormat at work is that in your effort to get along, to be nice, and to go with the flow, of course you won’t be expected to stand up and shout, “follow me” when your ideas might take you in a different direction.

Pennies and dollars

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“Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” I’m not sure this is true. In fact, I’m pretty sure that if you watch the dollars, you don’t have to worry so much about pennies.

Moving the line (the power of a zealot)

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Compromise is everywhere. Most of us can’t possibly be pure extremists or true fundamentalists, so we draw the line somewhere in the middle.

more, More, MORE!

Firing the customers you can’t possibly please gives you the bandwidth and resources to coddle the ones that truly deserve your attention and repay you with referrals, applause and loyalty.

Viral Growth Trumps Lots of Faux Followers

A slightly better idea defeats a much bigger but disconnected user base every time.

Phoning It In

Life’s too short to phone it in.

Frightened, Clueless or Uninformed?

In the face of significant change and opportunity, people are often one of the three. If you’re going to be of assistance, it helps to know which one.

The Least I Could Do

There’s a different strategy out there — instead of expending the least effort you can, do more.

Hunters and Farmers

Even today, people are either hunters or farmers — those willing to move in an instant, and others more interested moving steadily and minimizing risk. Marketers, and even teachers, can’t reach both types the same way.

Modern Procrastination

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Laziness in a white collar job has nothing to do with avoiding hard physical labor. Instead, it has to do with avoiding difficult (and apparently risky) intellectual labor.