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Susan, while that's a LOT of different types of folks to be hating on – although I can certainly picture a Venn diagram with a lot of crossover points - we appreciate your attention to detail. Wondering if they are all measured alike or, ala David Letterman, is there a Top 10 Countdown in there somewhere?
The "I Hate People!" Quiz
Do You Hate People? Take our quiz and find out! A. When I'm on a business flight I most enjoy sitting beside... 1) chatty, large people wearing lots of cologne. 2) crying children. 3) children. 4) an empty seat. 5) two empty seats. B. During a company meeting I most enjoy... 1) wat...
Thanks for keeping us updated on your "Full Soloist" status, FreeAtLast! And congrats on the personal health upgrade - sounds like getting out of the rat race agrees with you - imagine that!
- Marc
Turning Hate Around
Wow. Long time no post. Happy New Year to all you Haters from Jonathan Littman and myself. We've been busy on many other fronts but we continue to keep Hate alive in a number of little ways. That includes spreading it under the guise of being kind to others. We had a request a few months ago fr...
Mirelle, thanks for posting! We hadn't read these comments - I think because they were posting about the same time our book was actually coming out. But we'll take a look now.
Cheers,
Marc
Favored Third Place Becoming Turd Place?
Readers of I Hate People! know that co-Hater Jonathan Littman and I advocate the cultivation of a "Third Place", a respite that's neither home nor office, where one can escape the grind of the day in exchange for the fruit of the grind instead. Even though its very popularity has polarized the...
FreeAtLast,
Nicely related story of a type of Know-It-None that way too many of us have had to deal at work.
Glad to hear that you found your freedom! Don't lose touch with the Hate, however, or you might find yourself tempted to jump back into the morass!
Cheers,
Marc
Is Your Future Boss Horrible? A 10 Point Reference Check
The film Horrible Bosses opened on July 8th. The basic plot, as I understand it, is that three guys who hate their bosses, played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis, conspire to murder them. I don't recommend that way of dealing with a bosshole, and have been suggesting more const...
Hey! I tossed you five bucks - a buck a page - and I'm looking forward to reading it! (If you ever want to return the favor, grab a copy of my co-written business book, "I Hate People!" - you can get an electronic edition for about twice what I just paid you, and that's for over 200 pages of snarky advice on how to deal with idiots and morons in the workplace...)
Cheers!
Marc Hershon
HUNTER is coming...
Check it out: A little excerpt from Hunter can be found in this post. Or you can keep reading here: Pyke chased the girl down a street still wet with the afternoon’s rainfall. A thin sliver of moon was glowing behind the thinning clouds, but it wasn’t bright enough to pierce the darkness betwe...
Knatknits, thanks for your comment. Sounds like you've got a real winner. Or is it WINNERS? You could be talking about a bunch of different people or just one giant "Combo Platter". As we describe in "I Hate People!", that someone who has qualities of two or more of the Ten Least Wanted.
So let me try to break this one down...
"Passive aggressive" falls under the Smiley Face designation, while being unable to digest a financial statement is real Know It None behavior. The last minute requests for vital info could either be Minute Man territory or Switchblade, if they're trying to set you up to fail.
Someone who can't travel alone sounds like Sheeple to me, and hiring relatives instead of temps is the sort of thing you often see from the FlimFlam-as-boss. Not being able to see the big picture due to drownage in minutia (or manure) is totally Spreadsheet. Defensive body language in meetings is the purview of the Stop Sign, and the barrage of housekeeping questions is, again, very Spreadsheety.
So you've got a five or six-layer Combo Platter there — a real challenge. And you've caught us out on the crying and bare feet elements but we're nothing if not improvisational. Taken by themselves, these are the tools of the Disrupters, and people displaying these two particular traits are hereby dubbed Drama Queen and Caveman, respectively.
— Marc Hershon
Tell Us Your Stories!
In interviewing people for our upcoming book, I Hate People!, we uncovered a lot of stories about all the different ways that people in the office environment piss off the people around them. But we realized that being just two guys with audio recorders we couldn't cover that much ground. We wan...
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Mar 15, 2010
It's a multiple choice quiz, Arunkamar, and these are the only answers to choose from. So you have to pick the ones closest to the answer that suits you. "No answer" is not an option, I'm afraid.
Cheers,
Marc Hershon
The "I Hate People!" Quiz
Do You Hate People? Take our quiz and find out! A. When I'm on a business flight I most enjoy sitting beside... 1) chatty, large people wearing lots of cologne. 2) crying children. 3) children. 4) an empty seat. 5) two empty seats. B. During a company meeting I most enjoy... 1) wat...
Thanks for the word, Sheep Man! I accidentally copied over two page 2s. Now it's fixed!
Cheers,
Marc
Lost in Translation: The Hate Goes International
On the eve of the Italian language edition of I Hate People! coming out from the respected Corbaccio of Milan later this week, we are happy to report that elements from our book and blog are beginning to spread overseas on the web. First up is a three-page article about our Italian edition — Io...
For jin and anyone else who can't take the laugh track on this video, click here to see the version without the laughs!
Dangerous Smiles
In the first video from Simmer Studios, I Hate People! co-authors Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon talk about the Smiley Face, one of the "Ten Least Wanted" in your office whose job seems to be all about keeping you from doing your job effectively. If you have a particularly lethal Smi...
Thanks, Eric! And great idea, to start "The Next Words Not To Say In Your Job Interview".
Thanks to Eric we've got two: "Circle Back" (one of my all time least faves!) and "Stakeholders". Diane gave us our third: "Human Capital."
Now we just need seven more...
Ten Words Not to Say In Your Job Interview
It’s the worst job market in half a century. Don’t let your mouth ruin a good opportunity. Every prospective interviewer has a list of banned words in his drawer…or in his head. Include this office filler in your vocabulary and you will be shown the door. 1. “Thinking Outside the Box” Spouti...
Thanks for your comments, Diane! Jon and I appreciate your question about our putting "prioritize" on the list. And what do you know: We both have something to say on the matter! Surprise. Here we go...
Jon: "Speaking in sentences and not clinging to the dead wood of office
buzzwords shows your mind still functions: 'I believe in setting priorities. I think it's important to keep to a schedule.' It proves that you actually know what words mean. Compare that to someone who just parrots -- 'I always prioritize.' Falling too often into 'ize-speak' demonstrates a lazy mind."
Marc: "It's great to be able to prioritize -- but saying the word over and over doesn't mean you know what it means. The order in which you mention things about yourself is an indicator of your prioritizing ability -- mentioning how much you like windsurfing when asked about your accounting skills speaks volumes."
Ten Words Not to Say In Your Job Interview
It’s the worst job market in half a century. Don’t let your mouth ruin a good opportunity. Every prospective interviewer has a list of banned words in his drawer…or in his head. Include this office filler in your vocabulary and you will be shown the door. 1. “Thinking Outside the Box” Spouti...
Diana, I've corrected the original because of your question. It's a New York Press Award for Jon's story of a world-class sprinter. - Marc
I Hate People!: Let The Press Tour Begin!
I'm not sure what images are conjured up for you when you think of an author heading out on a whirlwind press junket. Private jets? Chauffeured limos? Luxury suites? Maybe that's what awaits Jon Littman and I, the co-authors of I Hate People! in the event our tome ever becomes a Best Seller. Rig...
To jin: Thanks for your comment! We were trying an experiment by adding the laugh track to the Smiley Face video. Now you'll see that we've added the exact same video, but without the laugh track.
How do you like us now?
Dangerous Smiles
In the first video from Simmer Studios, I Hate People! co-authors Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon talk about the Smiley Face, one of the "Ten Least Wanted" in your office whose job seems to be all about keeping you from doing your job effectively. If you have a particularly lethal Smi...
I buy organic cereals for snacking that workout to 1 point servings (like Barbara's Puffins -- cinnamon or regular.) Immediately upon getting home from the store, I "bag" the whole box using the little resealable snack bags. Each bag equals 1 serving. Then I put the bags into the original cereal box. So I keep the experience of going for the box of cereal but without the programming of pouring out a random amount. Or having bowl after bowl. This way, each portion stays fresh. And handy for taking in the car and munching on when I'm having coffee, at the movies, etc.
Weight Watchers Membership and Cookbook Up for Grabs!
It's a contest! Yep, I'm giving away a Three month Weight Watchers Membership (either meetings or online) and a copy of the new Weight Watchers Momentum Cookbook -- that was released with the launch of the new Momentum Plan in December 2008. Here's the deal... Your entry to win consists of po...
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