intelligence

Faking Smart! Book Review

By on April 15, 2011 in Book Reviews

This is a Book Review for Faking Smart!: Get Hired, Get Promoted and Become a V.P. in Six Short Weeks by Karl Wolfbrooks with Martin Fossum. You can also check out other book reviews on Humor That Works or see our recommendations in our Humor Resources.

Book Synopsis

Faking Smart! is a book that will astound, enlighten and terrify any person willing to approach the job market from a new angle. Faking Smart! shows you how to get hired, get promoted and become a VP, in six short weeks – GUARANTEED! That’s right, in six short weeks you’ll have everything any low-level corporate executive could ever wish for – unlimited horizontal job potential!

My Thoughts

I’ll admit that just by looking at the book, you think it’s actually a book about the importance of appearance in your perceived level of intelligence. However it only takes you reading the Foreword of the book to realize it’s something entirely different: it’s a satire of the countless business books out there.

Hailing from the “Faking Smart Research Institute,” Karl Wolfbrooks Ager, PhD (hon) takes us through the 6-week process of getting hired, getting promoted and becoming a Vice President. Along the way, Ager (with Martin Fossum) shows he has a good understanding of the stereotypes of the corporate world and has likely spent countless hours pondering the absurdities of our current work environment.

In a quick 133 pages, the book covers just about every cliche of business books and the corporate setting. From the business world’s love for graphs, flow charts and numbered lists to the trivial nature of some degrees, titles and certifications (you get one at the end of the book), Faking Smart! covers it all. They even spend some time on the importance of widgets to the economy.

My Favorite Part

My favorite part of the book were the references to IT (clearly he’s worked with people like me before) and just about every reference to InCredidata (or whatever company it is). I also like the self-awareness of the writers in the Interview on page 129 where they basically break down the idea of the book in one page.

The Bottom-Line

If you’re looking for a quick, entertaining read and are a reader of business books / employee in the corporate world, this will certainly keep you entertained. If you’re looking for a way to actually fake being smart (as many people who saw me reading the book thought it was), you’ll probably want to look somewhere else.

Rating (out of 5): :-) :-) :-) :-)

Buy it on Amazon: Faking Smart!: Get Hired, Get Promoted and Become a V.P. in Six Short Weeks – GUARANTEED! (Volume 1)

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What I Learned on the Internet, Brain Edition

By on August 28, 2009 in What I Learned From
photo by Obscenity

photo by Obscenity

They say that humans only use 10% of their brain.  I don’t know whether or not that’s true, but the following articles can help you increase the amount you use your noggin regardless of how much you use it now.

Note: This is part of the What I Learned on the Internet Series.

  1. Boost Your Brain – Want to know one way to improve your brain power?  How about 50 ways to boost your brain’s performance instead?
  2. Wander to Creativity – Daydreaming may actually be more than just dreaming during the day, but it may be the mind working hard for you.
  3. Overclock Your Mind – Just like a CPU, your mind can be overclocked past it’s normal functioning range, but unlike a CPU, the brain will adjust overtime allowing you to continue to grow.
  4. Eat Smart to Be Smart – Certain foods are super when it comes to having a healthy brain.
  5. Use the Other Hand – Something as simple as using your other hand when brushing your teeth can help improve your brain and willpower.
  6. Hack Your Brain – Every few years it’s smart to upgrade your computer software to get the latest and greatest.  You can do that with your brain to with some great mind-hacks to amp your brainpower.

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