Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self

We live in a world of dramatic, tumultuous, and unpredictable change—change that is wiping out time-honored businesses and long-standing institutions and ushering in unprecedented opportunities for creative individuals and entrepreneurial organizations. So pervasive is change today that it has redefined our first task: The job is no longer figuring out how to win at the game of work and life; the job is figuring out the new rules of the game.

That's the context for Alan M. Webber's Rules of Thumb, a guide for individuals in every walk of life who want to make sense out of these confusing, challenging, and compelling times. Drawing from his own experiences as cofounding editor of Fast Company magazine and a wide range of interactions with some of the world's leading thinkers and highest achievers, including Nobel Prize winners and global change agents, Webber has produced 52 "rules of thumb"—a collection that is as wise as it is useful and as honest as it is helpful. The rules come from real-life lessons learned and recorded on three-by-five cards, a trick borrowed from one of the many mentors whose teachings Webber captures and catalogues in this book.

If you're looking for practical advice on how to win at work without losing your self, if you want to change your life to meet the challenge of change, or if you want to learn from some of the world's most interesting and creative people, let Alan M. Webber take you on a remarkable journey toward greater personal understanding and, ultimately, greater personal success.

The cofounder of Fast Company provides 52 rules of thumb--one for each week of the year--to help leaders stay productive and inspired, even in the most turbulent times.

According to those who know him best, Alan M. Webber is witty and wise (on Mondays and Wednesdays), thoughtful and provocative (on Tuesdays and Thursdays), and irreverent and creative (on Fridays and Saturdays). On Sundays he rests. He is the cofounding editor of Fast Companymagazine and was the editorial director and managing editor of the Harvard Business Review. He's worked in federal, state, and local government, writing speeches and focusing on innovative policy initiatives. Currently he calls himself a ‘global detective' which has the benefit of meaning little but sounding cool. Two of the high points of his life came when he spent a summer shagging fly balls with the St. Louis Cardinals during batting practice and when he took his first trip to Japan and was told he looked like Bruce Willis. He's married to Frances Diemoz, an architect and furniture maker; his son and daughter, Adam and Amanda, are his two favorite children in the world.