[tlug] [OT] summer reading for career improvement

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Stephen J. Turnbull writes:

 > but the point is that you (anonymous) do have a choice.

By the way, I should mention that if *you* want get to work on
improving your job situation, the classic self-study text is Richard
Bolles, _What Color is Your Parachute?_  It's less relevant to Japan,
especially at the "new college grad" level, but many of my students at
Ohio State reported that it really helped them get their first jobs,
and negotiate their way up the ladder, too.  Most of it should work
here, too, at the mid-career level and especially in gaishikei firms.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-2485234-1119603?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=bolles+what+color+parachute&Go.x=5&Go.y=9&Go=Go

I have no idea whether it has improved with age; I doubt that you can
go wrong by buying the cheapest used copy that still has all the
pages, in any edition. :-)

Another omoshiroi book here (in both senses of "of interest" and
"funny") is Robert Townsend's _Up the Organization_.  Most of us are
not really in his audience (eg, few of us can walk into our boss's
office with a resignation letter in hand and walk out with a 20%
raise, a strategy he recommends in all seriousness), but it helps to
understand your boss's behavior from the point of view of a guy who is
one of the best at bossing bosses.  As an added bonus, it's written in
Unix man page format!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-2485234-1119603?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=townsend+up+organization&Go.x=13&Go.y=11&Go=Go