Book Review: How to Self Destruct by Jason Seiden

Have you ever thought to yourself “Success is too hard!”?

Jason Seiden has the answer for all those beleaguered by their search for success: Stop trying. Fail instead.

How to Self Destruct: Making the Least of What’s Left of Your Career outlines 14 ways to destroy your career, whether you are in your first job or “retiring in place” in senior management. Divided into four sections: Taking Down Your Career, Kicking Your Career When It’s Down, Laying Waste to Your Personal Environment, and Mastering the Self-Destruction Process, the book offers many pearls of wisdom for those who’ve finally had it with being successful and are ready to just give up. Some that I found particularly good:

• Take advantage of casual Fridays….”The unpressed, only-worn-once-since-you-washed-it-last Banana Republic uniform is still the most subtle yet effective way to keep yourself off everyone’s ‘next in line for the presidency’ radars.”
• Develop Champagne Tastes and an entitlement complex….“This will maximize the number of things you want but cannot afford and will heighten the feelings of inadequacy you experience when you repeatedly don’t get them.”
• Stay humble…. “At worst, you’ll get a personal note from the CEO admiring your work ethic, reminding you of the fond days when he worked under you and wishing you well now that your red Swingline has been confiscated and you’ve been laid off.”

To balance things out, Seiden ends each chapter with advice for those who don’t have the courage to fail.  Some sage advice I could relate to:

• Be prepared to meet with a client or with your CEO at any moment. …“if you want the interaction to go well, appearances matter.”
• Embrace your inner grunt….“Escort your ego to the curb and give it a good kick in the ass so it doesn’t come back. Return to the office and relish your role as low man on the totem pole. How low? Let’s put it this way: all the people you work with were told they were special too. So, chance are, you are of average specialness, which means you’re not special at all.”
• Work hard? Yes, and have fun, too. If you’re not having fun, you’re not engaging others. If you’re not engaging others, you’re not building the network you’ll need to achieve your big dreams. If you’re not having fun, you’re wasting your potential and slowly turning into a pessimist who will try to convince others to abandon thier dreams the same as you abandoned yours.”

With a unique mix of humor and wisdom, Jason Seiden has created an engaging and thought-provoking guidebook for failing (or succeeding) in today’s workplace. The cover price for this book is $12.95 and you can learn more about Seiden at www.howtoselfdestruct.com and at his blog, www.seidenleadership.com.