What to Say to Get What You Want: Strong Words for 44 Challenging Types of Bosses, Employees, Co-Workers, and Customers
Author: Sam Deep, Lyle Sussman, Samuel D. Deep
List Price: $15.95
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ISBN: 0201577127
Publisher: Perseus Publishing (January, 1992)
Sales Rank: 201,218
Average Customer Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 1 out of 5
Just spent [price]to be told to "play nice."
I have read (and re-read) this book and only find more contradictions the more I read. For example, the authors say that behaviors come from our attitudes and that while attitudes look like "the best target" to alter they aren't because it's really the offensive behavior that you are out to alter. They go on to say on the next page that "we identify people rather than behavior as the problem" - "there are no problem performers only problem performances." Hmmmm. Didn't we just say on the last page that our behavior (hence our performance) is based on our attitudes? I guess the performance > behaviors > attitudes thing is not a two-way street! This book is really about changing YOUR behaviors around the "44" challenging types. I walked away from this book feeling like I had been given a huge laundry list of things not to do or say to these 44 types (as it might offend them or stress them out) and only a short list of weak options, at best, that had any impact on really changing their behavior. The sum of this book: be considerate of others and play nice -eventually they will treat you like a human being....
Rating: 4 out of 5
Very helpful IF you can face your own quirks too
I needed a book to help me with my supervisor, whom after 11 years working together successfully, was not responding to any communication attempts by me. (She is an Ostrich...according to the book) I did not like the title of the book since it sounded manipulative, however, I was very glad I picked it up to see the contents. I used the "plan" on her and finally felt I had control. You can't change another person, but you can change your approach with that person. The outlines are easy to read and quickly tell you what won't work, what to try, and what to do if that doesn't work. It is not exhaustive, however, it offers a excellent starting point...which was all I really needed.
Suggestion: Buy the book, Scan through the second half of the book first to find the most relevant personality/traits. Read about that personality and go back to the front of the book to continue reading about that personality. (footnote type numbers lead you to the proper place in the front of the book)
I finally read the entire book and had some flattering and not so flattering realizations of myself which I have been addressing.
I think this book helped me get a promotion (away from that supervisor). My director saw the way I handled a no-win situation successfully. (I never told him or anyone else about the book.)
ljs
Rating: 3 out of 5
Helpful for anyone in a corporate setting
Although the title is somewhat misleading, this is a pretty good book for anyone working in a corporate environment. A more accurate title for this book would have been "How to communicate effectively with different types of people in your organization", because that's exactly what this book may help you to do. Anyone experiencing "communication problems" in their organization could benefit from the examples and suggestions provided by Deep and Sussman. I especially recommend this book for anyone working in the Human Resource department and anyone else with coaching or counseling responsibilities. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me - adamleft@webspan.net. Similar Products
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