Improvise This!: How to Think on Your Feet So You Don't Fall on Your Face Book

I was youger when I read this, and even though I was more naive back then and it made a whole lot of sense to me then, it still makes some sense now.

In the discussion regarding the amount of control we have on our lives, the author clearly sides on the "american" school of thought claiming that succes is your responsibility.

I still remember one anecdote from the book, it goes something like "Some top manager of a company needed someone on a management position. He looked around and saw a guy who always comes first and always leaves last. The manager said 'how about promoting that guy?'". Well sure that definitely makes some sense...in my experience though both very inefficient workers AND workaholics...AND people on badly managed teams will be putting in extra hours.

Another thing I remember from this book is the encouragement to just be 10% better than the rest of your competitors.

Though reality is always more complex than what these self-help books, it's good to read some of these things from time to time for keeping the motivation up.

Overall even if simplistic, the author seems genuine and his ideas are very non-corporate-bs.