The Devil's Advocate

Welcome to the future of business thinking. It dares to confront everything you thought was true. It'll challenge the so-called rules, dispute the perceived wisdom and turn that traditional, tired business advice completely on its head. Meet The Devil's Advocate. And whether you're new to business, an experienced senior executive or a budding entrepreneur, this fast and focused, clever little book, packed with empowering business advice and sharp insights, will help you carve a smart-thinking strategy for business success.Leadership 1 The only thing you need to be a great leader 2 Ask for favours 3 Sleep in your car 4 Leave stuff half-finished 5 This software can kill you 6 Forgive, (but don't forget) 7 Ignore urgent tasks 8 Be ill informed 9 Use guilt to motivate Say less 10 11 Wait for the tide to go out 12 Ask the bride to dance 13 Take fewer risks Strategy 14 Don't diversify 15 Stop obsessing about quality 16 Embrace awkward suppliers 17 Fight like Nelson 18 Your next competitor makes toilet paper 19 Burn your business plan 20 Set unrealistic goals 21 Don't dance where elephants play 22 More IT is not the answer 23 There's no prize for predicting the Flood 24 Embrace chaos 25 Sell invisibles 26 Use a lawyer like a condom 27 Exploit the poor 28 Don't make it in China Innovation 29 Reward failure 30 Sacrifice the sacred cow 31 You are in the wrong business 32 Sleep with your customers 33 Judge the book by its cover 34 Use research like a drunk uses a lamp-post* 35 Come last 36 Creativity needs a sergeant major 37 Get lost 38 Fire, ready, aim 39 Seek out your worst customers 40 Don't start from where you are 41 Rip-up your confidentiality agreements 42 Allow for the law of unintended consequences 43 Remember you are French 44 Anticipate complaints 45 Get stotious 46 Ban the brainstorm 47 Steal with pride Sales and marketing 48 Stop making sense 49 Don't give your customers choice 50 Learn from the Wizard of Oz 51 Don't 'do' social media 52 Recommend your competitors 53 If you're pitching to win - you've already lost 54 Be brief, be brilliant, be gone 55 Don't hire a hot-shot agency 56 Put the small print in BIG LETTERS 57 Dull is the new sexy 58 Make your literature illegible 59 Nurture your nutters 60 Create a crisis 61 Shut up 62 Get your face slapped 63 It's only worth advertising on your forehead 64 Fake sincerity Staff. 65 Pay your staff to quit 66 Money doesn't motivate 67 Hire some baboons 68 Don't recruit by experience 69 Forget the big idea 70 Drive a clunker 71 Take your name off the door 72 Be a pacifist in the talent war 73 Send your staff home 74 Don't delegate - abdicate 75 Remove the safety net 76 Sack early 77 Seek out the disabled 78 Encourage trade unions 79 Fire the founder 80 Cultivate some enemies Finance 81 Pay yourself GBP1,000 an hour 82 Max out your credit cards 83 Don't lend GBP10,000 to your brother 84 Be unaffordable 85 Don't compensate for the size of your manhood 86 Say no to cheap money 87 Double your costs, halve your reward 88 Set fire to your price list 89 Treat suppliers like fellow combatants Personal. 90. Cry as a negotiating technique 91. Pile on the stress 92. Avoid the passion trap 93. Don't give money to charity 94. Stop thinking positive 95. Disinherit your kids 96. Nurture self-doubt 97. Jump off a chair 98. Be a psychopath 99. Don't get harpooned 100. Be lazy