I Hate People...But It's Nothing Personal

A Resignation That Took (Or, Rather, Left) The Cake

2013-04-18T21:53:02-07:00

Apologies for the LONG delay in posting something here on the I Hate People blog. (The last post was November 1st of last year!) It's not that we hate people any less, it's just the crush of business and other projects sapping our time. (If you need a non-Hate fix, co-author Jonathan Littman has been contributing fairly regularly to the Huffington Post, while I've been fanning the flames of our @IHatePeople_ Twitter account with frequent tweets that start "Your Job Might Suck If…") What prompted THIS post was a story I saw today about a guy in England who decided...

Let's Talk About Stupid People

2012-11-01T06:49:18-07:00

I am sick to death of stupid people. Let me rephrase that. I am sick to death of Stupid People. One or two of them showing up every day would be one thing. But they seem to be everywhere…

In Between The Succotash

2012-08-13T09:37:54-07:00

Howdy! I'm popping in with this short blast between posting about Succotash episodes (my comedy podcast podcast) to let you know about an appearance I make in a just-released installment of a new comedy web series. So if you've been wondering what the face behind the voice of Succotash looks like, here's your chance to catch a glimpse! Everybody's A Comedian is a web sitcom about an unknown comic who can barely pay his bar tab, let alone his dues. I'm proud to have been asked to appear in Sammy Wegent's "Everybody's A Comedian", Episode #2! Look for the sleazyish...

Four Tech Tales of Doom: Goodbye HP, Dell, Nokia and RIM

2012-06-08T07:10:36-07:00

Thirty-five years ago Kenneth Olsen, CEO of the pioneering DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation), stood poised to dominate computing for another generation. The brilliant Mr. Olsen had profited immensely by going small -- building efficient mini-computers in the age of hulking mainframes. By the mid 1980s DEC's revenues were peaking and its status seemed certain as the second largest company in the industry. Fortune named Olsen America's most successful entrepreneur in 1986. But DEC was already doomed. Mr. Olsen had long ago stopped thinking like an entrepreneur. A decade before at the World Future Society he had announced like an emperor,...

Let The Hate Out

2012-03-10T08:06:53-08:00

In our book I Hate People!, we talk a lot about having strong emotions about people you work with and ways to work AROUND those people to minimize frustration and maximize production. But we didn't offer a whole lot of ways to blow off steam. Mainly because most people have their methods - sports, video games, martial arts, etc. And any of those solutions are probably pretty good. But in case they don't quite do the trick, take a cue from a new business that's gotten started in Dallas, Texas. The Anger Room. Here's a story on it from NBC...

Turning Hate Around

2012-01-16T03:00:00-08:00

Wow. Long time no post. Happy New Year to all you Haters from Jonathan Littman and myself. We've been busy on many other fronts but we continue to keep Hate alive in a number of little ways. That includes spreading it under the guise of being kind to others. We had a request a few months ago from Faith Knight, an author and Project Management Professional, who was working on a new book about how people are the core of any project that you might be working on. And, it turns out, that those people may take some finessing...er, understanding...

Favored Third Place Becoming Turd Place?

2011-08-05T22:38:55-07:00

Readers of I Hate People! know that co-Hater Jonathan Littman and I advocate the cultivation of a "Third Place", a respite that's neither home nor office, where one can escape the grind of the day in exchange for the fruit of the grind instead. Even though its very popularity has polarized the international community to either love or hate it, Starbucks was one such haven mentioned in our book. A place to kick back for a while with some joe, plug in your laptop and get some work done in the blessed buzz of a public place where no one...

Is Your Future Boss Horrible? A 10 Point Reference Check

2011-07-13T13:50:25-07:00

The film Horrible Bosses opened on July 8th. The basic plot, as I understand it, is that three guys who hate their bosses, played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis, conspire to murder them. I don't recommend that way of dealing with a bosshole, and have been suggesting more constructive approaches (see this ABC interview). As part of the film's release, I have been getting quite a few media calls about bosses. This reminded me of a checklist that I worked on with the folks at LinkedIn and Guy Kawasaki a few years back to help assesses if...