If Things Don't Improve Soon I'm Going to Ask You to Fire Me: The Management Book for Everyone Who Works

Richard K Irish writes books about how to think about business. In Go Hire Yourself an Employer he described how to think about the job search. In If Things Don't Improve Soon he describes the other end of the hire/fire cycle: how to tell if you need to leave a job. Irish writes that people fall too easily into positions where they are unhappy with coworkers, unproductive in their labor, and unable to advance in their careers; yet they seem unable to just let go and get on with their lives. He recommends several indicators that it's time to find the exit door. (Are there too many "dotted lines" in your corporate organization chart? Are people speaking "Madrin?") If you see these indicators, it's time to go to your boss and say, "If things don't improve soon I may ask you to fire me." Irish also gives you a good, no-bull view of managing others. (Could you fire your best friend? If not, don't get into management--you won't be doing any favors for your friend or your company.) Irish is a wonderful read to provoke a "gut check" on where you are in your work life. The times that I have found myself in a workplace dead-end, or surprised by a lay-off notice, it was because I had forgotten his advice.