Most Likely to Succeed at Work: How Work Is Just Like High School: Crib Notes for Getting Along Amidst Bullies, Teacher's Pets, Cheerleaders, and Othe

The title pretty much says it all in this business/self-help manual by corporate communications coaches Davidson and Dougherty. Using high school stereotypes found in teen movies, if not actual high schools, the authors attempt to reveal the secrets to office triumph by offering a taxonomy of types. For instance, there's the Jock, who""favors sports analogies"" in conversation and is a team player; the Brown-noser, who hides his incompetence beneath an endless stream of flattery; and the approval-seeking Thespian, who may be moody but is quick on his feet. Davidson and Dougherty detail how to navigate relationships with these types and numerous others, including the Cheerleader, the Class Clown, the Geek and the Party Animal, and suggest what to do if you might be one of these sorts yourself. Their position is not unreasonable--high school social experiences are very formative, after all--but it assumes that people have failed to mature or change in the years between school and work; also, the authors work so hard to make their case that they end up deflating it through overstatements such as""high school is simply a lab for the rest of our life.""