• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

you've been trained to do, but by understanding how the rules of our world have

fundamentally changed and by taking advantage of this moment to become someone the

world believes is indispensable.

It starts by making a simple choice.

I know that you can do this and I hope you will. And once you do, if you do, I'm hoping

you'll share the idea with someone you care about.

The Take-Care-of-You Bargain

Here's the deal our parents signed us up for:

Our world is filled with factories. Factories that make widgets and insurance and Web

sites, factories that make movies and take care of sick people and answer the telephone.

These factories need workers.

If you learn how to be one of these workers, if you pay attention in school, follow

instructions, show up on time, and try hard, we will take care of you. You won't have to

be brilliant or creative or take big risks.

We will pay you a lot of money, give you health insurance, and offer you job security.

We will cherish you, or at the very least, take care of you.

It's a pretty seductive bargain.

So seductive that for a century, we embraced it. We set up our schools and our systems

and our government to support the bargain.

It worked. The Fortune 500 took care of us. The teachers' union took care of us. The post

office and the local retailer took care of us. We followed the instructions, we washed the

bottles, we showed up on time, and in return, we got what we needed. It was the

American Dream. For a long time, it worked.

But in the face of competition and technology, the bargain has fallen apart.

Job growth is flat at best.

Wages in many industries are in a negative cycle.

The middle class is under siege like never before, and the future appears dismal. People

are no longer being taken care of--pensions are gone; 401(k)s have been sliced in half;

and it's hard to see where to go from here. You might be the hardworking secretary, the

one with institutional knowledge, the person who has given so much and deserves

security and respect. And while you might deserve these things, your tenure is no

guarantee that you're going to get them.

Suddenly, quite suddenly in the scheme of things, it seems like the obedient worker

bought into a sucker's deal. The educated, hardworking masses are still doing what

they're told, but they're no longer getting what they deserve.

This situation presents a wonderful opportunity.

Yes, it's an opportunity. An opportunity to actually enjoy what you do, to make a

difference to your colleagues and your customers, and to unlock the genius you've been

hiding all these years.

It's futile to work hard at restoring the take-care-of-you bargain. The bargain is gone, and

it's not worth whining about and it's not effective to complain. There's a new bargain

now, one that leverages talent and creativity and art more than it rewards obedience.

Where Does Success Come From?

Every day, bosses, customers, and investors make hard choices about whom to support

and whom to eliminate, downsize, or avoid.

For the last twenty years, I've been studying eighteen varieties of that simple question.

Some variations:

Why do some tactics work better than others? Why are some employees so much more

productive than others? Why do some organizations wilt and fade in the face of a

tumultuous market while others thrive? How come some ideas spread far and wide and

others are ignored?

This book is my answer to that question.

Where Does Average Come From?

It comes from two places:

1. You have been brainwashed by school and by the system into believing that your job is

to do your job and follow instructions. It's not, not anymore.

2. Everyone has a little voice inside of their head that's angry and afraid. That voice is the

resistance--your lizard brain--and it wants you to be average (and safe).

If you're not doing as well as you hoped, perhaps it's because the rules of the game were

changed, and no one told you.

The rules were