Mondays Stink!

You should first know that the author published this book himself, and in doing so, apparently didn't take his own advice of doing the best job one can, respecting the gifts other's have to offer to any professional endeavor, instead, taking short cuts, readily apparent even from the book's poorly designed cover and uninspired font usage. Not only has the author assumed he can do the work of a professional book designer, but he has substituted the work of a professional editor who could have caught the unnecessary typos, and improper sentence structure, etc. This is again evident in having had an amateur student cartoonist produce very poor cartoons that are somehow meant to help the book. (Yes, I know some people actaully like them!) There are plentiful needless "widows" and even paragraphs at the top of the page (above the cartoons) that are less than half a sentence long only to then carry on to the next page for the rest of the paragraph when there was sufficient room to simply move everything together to the following page.

Anyone in the publishing industry will see its shortcomings al too quickly. It is poorly presented and seems to have been quickly rushed for publish. It seems to be more in line with technical writing for papers, rather than something akin for a real book. Although it starts out well, the careless copywriting errors get very tiresome as one reads further into the book. By the end, I found I was quickly tiring of this book as the advice within comes off as shallow when it's so clearly not followed in producing the author's very own book! An apt (tale-tale) end for this book is it's own back cover's picture of the author, clearly crudely Photoshopped, and even the picture itself is not only blurred, but is poorly lit and dingy as well.

Let me give you just one example of the careless writing and perhaps suggest an alternative that could have been written, had this book either been better produced or at least properly proofed:

Actual sentence (Pg. 12):

"How should a manager communicate a decision he or she might personally disagree?"

Alternative:

"How should a manager communicate a decision with which he or she might personally disagree?"

Ok, so what about the content? The advice given is pretty basic and actually even trite in some spots. I will say there are about 10 pages within that are fairly decent as they at least contain questions that might help one examine one's own work situation, but rather than spend the time and money buying this book, if you really want to get your hands on it, simply read pages 49-54, in particular, if anything.

To conclude, I'll leave you with one of the basic observations within the book: "Important things are rarely easy"! Hmmm.

0 of 1 found the following review helpful:

A great handbook!  Apr 01, 2004
"Mondays Stink" is truly a handbook for every employee in any industry. It is a practical yet thought provoking set of "secrets" that we can all use. I am tempted to hand it to any employee who feels ineffectual or any manager who is struggling or for that matter any leader wondering about the culture they want to drive in their company. Carl Dierschow has created something usable without all the fluff that often goes with these "how to" books. Read it, use it, it works!

- Vice-President of Human Resources in a Fortune 50 company.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

Simple but inspiring  Mar 30, 2004
For anyone who feels overwhelmed by corporate life, here is a great little book with lots of practical tips and case studies on how to get more from your work, to discover yourself, and to find greater personal fulfillment.
The writer works for a large global company, which, like many others, has undergone significant change in the last few years.
In simple coaching style, he takes the reader through the many facets of work, its value to both employee and employer, and the ways in which conflict arises and can be resolved.
For me, the central message is that the reader should take responsibility for getting the most out of work, and for looking after himself.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

Thanks!  Jan 26, 2004
This book is practically the only reason I've stayed in my current position with a national insurance company and been able to improve my performance from barely meeting expectations to far exceeding them since October when I first read Mondays Stink. My first impression of the book was that it gave me the ability to tolerate my job. I found myself referring to it as a resource, hung a few of the bookmarks around my cubicle and noticed people reading them, including my boss. The one that really hits people is the one about how I should surround myself with people who appreciate me (not a quote but that's the idea I got from it). Now I think that message to the readers who stop by my desk actually changes their approach to me and we are all happier. Imagine if they had read the whole book. I would really like more book marks so if my company of several hundred employees don't read the book, they will at least get the message by reading excerpts.  If you sell those separately, I would like to buy more. They could become my own motivational posters for my benefit and visitors.....Thanks.

Martha S.