22nd Feb 2012
Firebox Exclusive!

Despair - The Art of Demotivation Book

Deeply ironic or worryingly effective? You decide!

Customer rating:
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132 ratings

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These days office life is all about rallying the troops and motivating the workers. Platitudinous posters, parable-filled management books, increasingly complicated incentive programs - the list is endless. Unfortunately all this pointless backslapping only succeeds in giving employees false confidence. Worse still it gives them delusions of grandeur when all they really need is to be taken down a peg or three.

Despair - The Art of Demotivation This is why you really must read 'The Art of Demotivation'. This brilliantly cynical, myth-exploding management book has been written by subversive business guru and founder of Despair Inc., Dr. E.L. Kersten. The good doctor believes that true success in the workplace can only be achieved when the workforce knows its place (its place being below you!).

To this end this thoroughly sarcastic book is filled with tips and techniques to help you totally demotivate fellow workmates and employees. It's a bit like a David Brent seminar without the Tina Turner music and back-to-front baseball cap.

Despair - The Art of Demotivation Like a literary chainsaw to the legs of the proverbial career ladder, The Art of Demotivation is guaranteed to equip you with the power to deflate egos and create a genuinely amusing divide between worker and boss. For example, on the subject of indifference, Dr Kersten recommends that you ignore employees in passing, get their names wrong, take credit for their ideas, talk over them, disregard their contributions and even cleanse your hands after greeting them! Yes it's harsh, but successful executives sometimes have to be cruel to be kind.

Despair - The Art of Demotivation With drawings by Wall St Journal illustrator Kevin Sprouls and a phoney dust jacket to hoodwink nosy underlings, The Art of Demotivation is an ideal gift for anyone who has to deal with strutting egocentrics on a daily basis and it's guaranteed to de-humanize the workplace in no time. Because remember, the secret to successful teamwork is when everyone does what you say.

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Please Note:
  • 243 pages.
Dimensions:
  • 16cm (W) x 23.6cm (H) x 2.4cm (D).
A word from the founder of Despair, Inc:
Best Of Demotivators Calendar "MOTIVATION. Psychology tells us it comes from within. Common sense tells us it can't be manufactured. Yet motivational books, posters and speeches are the heart of a multi-billion dollar industry. Why? Because people desperately want simple solutions to complex problems. And when desperation has disposable income, market opportunities abound. At Despair, Inc., we believe motivational products raise hopes only to dash them. Our products help you skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow. Enjoy! (As if that's really possible)."
- E.L. Kersten, Ph.D., Despair, inc. COO & Founder.

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Jamie, Stratford-Upon-Avon
   
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Press Reviews...

press review "The Art of Demotivation is the most daring, funny and subversive management book ever written." - Lucy Kellaway
Financial Times - Sep '06

Visitor Reviews...

visitor avatar Wow what a book, it's hard in this day and age to work out if this is satire or a cutting insight into the modern managment methods that have resulted from one too many consultants telling employers that their employees are special little soldiers. Either way, saitre or social commentary this book is a must read for the wage slave and manager alike, although I think a different perspective will be needed by both.
Rob Booth, Nottingham - 28th March 2006
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