Synopses & Reviews
WARNING:
Gray Matters is addictive; get ready to laugh and learn!
Forget deserted islands, today's toughest survival challenge is the workplace. Threatened with layoffs, reorganization, or other dramatic changes, people need a guidebook for navigating the treacherous wilds of work. Full of uncommon insight and practical guidance, Gray Matters offers real business wisdom in an action-packed, endlessly entertaining illustrated format that trades cynicism for solutions.
You'll meet Gray Blanderson, a frazzled product engineer who devises a road map for survival and overcoming the toughest workplace challenges, including:
- How to avoid the seven deadly workplace sins
- How to thrive in a changing environment
- How to sell (even if you aren't a salesperson)
- The six keys to success at work today
- How to handle rapid innovation
- How to get on the right side of workplace politics
Think Dilbert with a solution. Your tour guides are the employees of GlobalGadget: Gray Blanderson, a frazzled employee seeking a promotion; Rick Newman, Gray's nemesis; S. P. Chang, a Gen-Xer and a wise soul; and Virginia Edgarly, Gray's boss who will do whatever is required to be the next CEO.
A follow-up to the bestseller The Boss's Survival Guide, this new book is a must for all managers in this turbulent work environment. This funny guide will help managers navigate change, improve morale and develop business strategies.
Review
"Gray Matters shows us business books don't have to be boring; fun and provocative is better!" Bob Nelson, PhD, bestselling author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees
Review
"A unique and humorous insight into how to stay ahead in today's highly competitive workplace." Harry Paul, bestselling coauthor of Fish!
Review
"Gray Matters is Heloise meets Dilbert hints for the workplace with artwork and humor!" Heloise, Internationally syndicated columnist, author and broadcaster
Synopsis
This insightful guide for managers helps them improve morale, mitigate change, and develop strategies for their business. Combining humorous illustrations with practical business lessons, it tells the story of a product engineer who invents a new product and then learns how to maneuver through the corporate hierarchy in selling his invention. Packed with uncommon insight and real business wisdom, it presents an inventive approach to achieving business goals through forward-thinking leadership.
Synopsis
An illustrated guide to surviving today's turbulent and challenging workplacefrom the authors of the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Boss's Survival Guide.
Synopsis
Forget the Australian Outback or the Amazon jungle today's toughest survival challenge is the minefield we call work. It's impossible to "do more with less," especially with the looming threat of another reorganization, layoff, or other dramatic change. The good news is that you've got a new power tool for what ails you at work: Gray Matters. This inventive new book combines lively visuals, engaging characters, and impudent humor. But Gray Matters also offers hope and proven strategies to show you how to succeed at work today.
Synopsis
WARNING: Gray Matters is addictive; get ready to laugh and learn
Forget deserted islands, todays toughest survival challenge is the workplace. Threatened with layoffs, reorganization, or other dramatic changes, people need a guidebook for navigating the treacherous wilds of work. Full of uncommon insight and practical guidance, Gray Matters offers real business wisdom in an action-packed, endlessly entertaining illustrated format that trades cynicism for solutions.
Youll meet Gray Blanderson, a frazzled product engineer who devises a road map for survival and overcoming the toughest workplace challenges, including:
- How to avoid the seven deadly workplace sins
- How to thrive in a changing environment
- How to sell (even if you arent a salesperson)
- The six keys to success at work today
- How to handle rapid innovation
- How to get on the right side of workplace politics
"Gray Matters shows us business books dont have to be boring; fun and provocative is better!"
Bob Nelson, PhD, bestselling author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees
"A unique and humorous insight into how to stay ahead in todays highly competitive workplace."
Harry Paul, bestselling coauthor of Fish!
"Gray Matters is Heloise meets Dilberthints for the workplace with artwork and humor!"
Heloise, Internationally syndicated columnist, author and broadcaster
Synopsis
An illustrated guide to surviving today's turbulent and challenging workplace from the authors of
The Wall Street Journal bestseller
The Boss's Survival GuideForget the Australian Outback or the Amazon jungle-today's toughest survival challenge is the minefield we call work. It's impossible to "do more with less," especially with the looming threat of another reorganization, layoff, or other dramatic change. The good news is that you've got a new power tool for what ails you at work: Gray Matters. This inventive new book combines lively visuals, engaging characters, and impudent humor. But Gray Matters also offers hope and proven strategies to show you how to succeed at work today:
- how to sell successfully
- how to survive a layoff
- how to overcome the stress and pressure of today's frenetic workplace.
Think Dilbert with a solution. Your tour guides are the employees of GlobalGadget: Gray Blanderson, a frazzled employee seeking a promotion; Rick Newman, Gray's nemesis; S. P. Chan g, a Gen-Xer and a wise soul; and Virginia Edgarly, Gray's boss who will do whatever is required to be the next CEO.
A follow-up to the bestseller, The Boss's Survival Guide, this new book is a must for all managers in this turbulent work environment. This funny guide will help managers navigate change, improve morale and develop business strategies.
WARNING: Gray Matters is addictive; get ready to laugh and learn.
About the Author
Bob Rosner (Seattle, WA) writes the internationally syndicated column "Working Wounded," and is the coauthor, with Allan Halcrow, of the bestseller
The Boss's Survival Guide and author of the book
Working Wounded: Advice That Adds Insight to Injury.
Allan Halcrow (Irvine, CA) is an award-winning business editor and a partner in WorkPositive, a consulting firm that offers assessment, communications strategies, and training.
John Lavin (Seattle, WA) is an award-winning cartoonist and an artist with clients such as Starbucks, Barney's New York, and Nordstrom.
Table of Contents
About the Authors.
Acknowledgments.
Introduction.
Setting the Scene.
Part One: HOW BUSINESS WORKS.
1. Change: How to thrive during uncertainty by driving change.
2. Walk Your Talk: How to earn respect by aligning what you say with what you do.
3. Dollars and Sense: How to use your company’s financial data to set priorities.
4. Politics: How to maneuver through workplace dynamics—good and bad—to get things done.
5. Customers: How to identify what your customers really think.
6. Relationships: How to be a successful team player.
Part Two: SALES.
7. Sales Autopsy: How to make sense of losing a key customer.
8. Know Your Market: How to understand what the market wants so you can deliver.
9. Qualifying: How to identify your most likely buyers.
10. Walk in Their Shoes: How to understand the business challenges your customers face—and how you can help.
11. Objections: How to identify—and overcome—the primary reasons your customers say “no”.
12. Secondary Objections: How to identify and overcome the unspoken—and often emotional—reasons customers say “no”.
13. Building Relationships: How to listen, establish trust, and go the extra mile for your customers.
14. Closing the Sale: How to ask customers for their business.
Part Three: THE SEVEN DEADLY WORKPLACE SINS.
15. Exhaustion: How to set priorities, say “no,” and ease your stress.
16. Anger: How to keep things in perspective and manage your emotions.
17. Surrender: How to leverage your influence and make a difference.
18. Obsolescence: How to hone your skills and stay on top of your field.
19. Incompetence: How to encourage—and use—feedback on your performance.
20. Withdrawal: How to stay focused on your mission and connected to others.
21. Dysfunction: How to stay grounded—and work with those who aren’t.
Part Four: INNOVATION.
22. The Spirit of Innovation: How to implement new ideas and build for the future.
23. Obstacles to Innovation: How to overcome the roadblocks to success.