Cheat to Win: The Honest Way to Break All the Dishonest Rules in Business

Cheat to Win is a business book like no other. Traditional business books lay out a set of “rules” to guide you to business success. Not Cheat to Win. Author Bob MacDonald openly declares war on all the outdated and dishonest rules of business; the ones that bind, rather than better us. MacDonald asserts that businesses everywhere, large and small, are fettered with old and obsolete rules that cripple peak employee performance and stunt the growth of the businesses that employee them. Worse yet, says MacDonald, we’re all conditioned to accept and follow the rules of business—regardless of their validity. This book is about cheating on those dumb and dishonest business rules and carving out a career of individual brilliance that can help you avoid being trapped in the mediocrity of the herd. The honest way to live, says MacDonald, is to break the obsolete rules, artificial expectations and archaic limitations imposed on us by others. Which rules? Well here’s a sampling. Exposed by MacDonald are outmoded rules like how to get a job and advance up the corporate ladder. “They’re totally anti-individual,” says MacDonald “and so are many of the ‘human resources’ departments that perpetuate them.” MacDonald shows why the rules dealing with gaining wealth and power are “back-assward.” “The way to gain power and wealth in business,” he insists, “is not to hoard them, but to share them.” Put under a microscope are rules about winning negotiation (“Never, ever go for the jugular”), creating an entrepreneurial company (“Do everything in parallel”), about dealing with employees (“Treat them as 21st century capitalists.”) And that’s just the beginning. Cheat to Win will teach you how to break all the obsolete rules and make your own way to success. It’s packed with proven, real-life how-to advice—strategies you can start using right now to brighten your business future whether you’re ascending the corporate ladder, building your own ladder as an entrepreneur, or leading a company. Cheat to Win is about winning with true integrity. It debunks the rule-myths of business by deflating the hypocrisy and translating the doublespeak of dishonest rules, empowering you to discover your own clear and direct path to success. By shattering rather than following the entrenched establishment’s “conspiracy of rules” and learning to adopt an honest, challenging rule-breaking élan, your mind opens to the wide vistas of opportunity in life. The author’s own remarkable story validates this thesis. From college dropout to corporate chairman and influential business leader, the author cheated on the business rules that needed to be cheated on and won big—the honest way. In this book MacDonald shows there is no monopoly on honest rule-breaking—anyone can do it and win. While some will always fear the concept of cheat to win, what separates the winners from the losers in life is the willingness to question, challenge and—under the right conditions—violate outdated rules in order to rise faster, achieve more and live life as their own. You can, too! And Cheat to Win can teach you how.