Becoming 'Bait'

Not all books are meant to be pleasant. Some (arguably, many) are purposefully designed to rip you out of your comfort zone, make you think, open your eyes.

Barbara Ehrenreich is one who writes these kinds of books. Her Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America became a classic when it came out a few years ago. In it, she went undercover as a low-wage worker in order to experience what it’s like to do back-breaking work for long hours on a feeble salary.

Her latest work, Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, explores the corporate, white-collar world—or more accurately, the attempt to break into it. This book, which I listened to in its audio format, was frankly…depressing. I’d attribute it not so much to the fact that she doesn’t actually succeed despite a nearly year-long job hunt, but to the shockingly banal corporate universe she discusses. Time and time again, she is fed buzzwords (“networking”, “positive attitude”, “transition”), and employment gurus try to sell their simple acronym-laden self-help programs and personality tests.

This got me thinking about the application of the term ‘guru’ in the business world. Where there’s a guru, there’s a book. What marvels me each time any of these titles becomes a mega-seller is the utter devotion of its adherents. Managers everywhere buy copies for every single one of their employees, sometimes sending them to seminars on the very same topic. As in a pyramid scheme, they are recruiting faithful companions.They want them to be inspired like they were; they want them, in other words, to be touched and share the faith, to become devotees. It seems that by its very definition, following a guru implies that one is not the leader or visionary and is therefore unable to see a big picture. Instead, one chases trends, gets on bandwagons, applies ‘leadership principles’, forms committees - time that would be better spent ‘leading’!

The latest ‘it’ title is Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese?, a book I picked up only to see what all the fuss was about. It is huge in the States, and also Japan. What I found was a brilliant money-maker for the author: a pamphlet sized book with a font so big it passes as large print, interspersed with more than a dozen pages with only wedges of cheese on them, containing ‘nuggets’ of wisdom—and this for $19.95 US, $30 Canadian. It reads like a wannabe parable motivational infomercial. I know that seems harsh, and there are many who were very inspired by it, but I am outraged for readers at what they are getting, especially for the cost.

In the early 1990s, the trendy manager’s book was Stephen R. Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It sold millions of copies, and people rushed out to buy the special agendas and planners, so they too, could become interdependent and ‘sharpen the saw’. Covey had a veritable empire. I say ‘had’, because he is no longer the guru du jour. In my library at least, his latest book, The 8th Habit, didn’t even make a waiting list. I only mention it at all to demonstrate how fleeting these trends are.

All of these titles (and there are more), work on a basic premise: you are dissatisfied with your life and want something more; you fear change; you feel the loss of control. This book can help. It’s so simple. You too can take control of your life and soar personally and professionally. We can help you ‘win’. We can help you even more if you buy our related products.

I’m not suggesting that people shouldn’t read these books—or any other self-help books for that matter—I only wish people could see them for what they are: one inspirational book of many that probably won’t have a lasting impact on their lives. Anyone needing insight on becoming a leader would be better off reading about real ones, rather than a buzzword-padded “how-to” manual.