This is the underlying rule that governs all the others- know your job well, do it well and be better than anyone else at doing it. It’s that simple. The secret part is to make sure nobody knows how hard you have to work to do it so well. You can do all your learning in secret, in private- you just don’t let on, don’t let anyone know you do this – and never ever let anyone know you’ve read this book; it is your secret bible. The important thing is to look calm and efficient, on top of everything and totally in control. You glide through your daily work with ease and confidence. You are unflappable and unstoppable. Bottom line is, however, you must be really good at your basic job.
Rule 1.1 Get your work noticed
It’s all too easy for your work to get overlooked in the busy hurly burly of office life. You're slaving away and it can be hard to remember that you need to put in some effort to boost your individual status and personal kudos for your work. But it’s important. You have to make your mark so you stand out and your promotional potential will be realized.
The best way to do this is to step outside the normal working routine. If you have to process so many widgets each day- and so does everyone else- then processing more won't do you that much good. But if you subject a report to your boss of how everyone could process more widgets then you’ll get noticed. The unsolicited report is a brilliant way to stand out from the crowd. It shows you’re thinking on your feet and using your initiative. But it mustn’t be used too often. If you submit your boss to a barrage of unsolicited reports you’ll get noticed but in completed the wrong way. You have to stick to certain rules:
* only submit a report occasionally
* make really sure that your report will actually work – that it will do good or provide benefits
* make sure your name is prominently displayed
* make sure the report will be seen not only by your boss, but by their boss as well
* it doesn’t have to be a report – it can be an article in the company newsletter.
Of course, the very best way to get your work noticed is to be very, very good at your job. And the best way to be good at your job is to be totally dedicated to doing the job and ignoring all the rest. There is a vast amount of politics, gossip, gamesmanship, time wasting and socializing that goes on in the name of work. It isn't work. Keep your eye on the ball and you’ll be already playing with a vast advantage over your colleagues. The Rules Player stays focused. Keep your mind on the task at hand – being very good at your job – and don’t get distracted.
Rule 1.2 Never stand still
Most people go into work each day with only one thought – getting through to going home time. During their day they will do whatever they have to, to arrive at that magic time. You won't. You won’t stand still. Having got the job it seems enough for most people that they will just do it and thus remain static. But doing the job isn’t the end game for you – it is merely a means to the end. And the end for you is promotion, more money, success, getting on and up, amassing the contacts and experience to set out on your own, whatever it is on your wish list – see Rule 3. The job, in a way, is an irrelevance.
Yes, you have to do the work. And yes, you have to do it supremely well. But your eye should already be on the next step and every activity you indulge in at work should be merely a cog in your plan to move up.
While others are thinking of their next tea break or how to get through the afternoon without actually having to do any work, you will be busy planning and executing your next manoeuvre. In an ideal world the Rules Player will have got their work done by lunchtime, so that they have the afternoon free; to study for the next promotion, to assess the competition amongst close colleagues, to write the unsolicited reports to get their work noticed, to research ways to improve the work process for everyone, to further their knowledge of company procedures and history.
If you can’t get your work done by lunchtime then you will have to fit all these things into and around the work. What the competition will be doing is not doing them. But you don't stand still. Never accept that doing the job is enough. That's for the others. You will be moving right along preparing, studying, analyzing and learning.
We talked earlier about the manager's walk; well that’s what you’ll be doing, practicing the manager’s walk – or whoever’s walk it is you need to master. You have to see promotion – or whatever else it is you want – as a movement. You keep moving or you grow moss. You have to have movement or you grow stagnant. You have to like movement or you grow roots. Movement requires of you that you don’t sit on your backside and do nothing – don’t stand still.
Rule 1.3 Volunteer carefully
A lot of people think that if they say ‘yes’ to everything they will get noticed, get praised and get promoted. Not true. The clever manager above them will use this ‘I’ll do it’ mentality and you will end up overworked, undervalued and abused. Before you put your hand up to volunteer for anything, think very carefully. You have to ask yourself various questions:
* Why is this person asking for volunteers?
* How will this further my plan?
* How will I look to senior management if I volunteer?
* How will I look if I don’t volunteer?
* Is this a dirty job that no one else wants?
* Or is this person genuinely, desperately overburdened and really in need of my help?
It might well be a dirty job that no one else wants and by volunteering you might look very good in the eyes of senior management – they think you capable of rising to a challenge, being useful and being prepared to get your sleeves rolled up and stuck in. On the other hand they might think you a prat. Or if you volunteer to do the filing they’ll see you as a mere filing clerk. Or you might generate a load of goodwill for helping out someone in real need of support. Be careful and choose your moments. There’s no point sticking your hand up if it means you’re going to be seen as a monkey. Only step that one step forward when you are confident you will look good, gain benefit or make a difference to someone who needs help.
Also be aware that sometimes you seem to have volunteered without putting your hand up or stepping forward. It just happens that sometimes all your colleagues to take a collective step backwards leaving you there out in the open seemingly volunteering when you really had no intention of doing so. The first time this happens you will have to ride with it and do the job – but make sure it doesn’t happen again, not to a Rules Player, not twice. Keep your ear better attuned next time and feel out the collective approach and make sure you’re stepping backwards with the rest of them.
Rule 1.4 Carve out a niche for yourself
I once worked with a colleague who made it a great personal skill to find out stuff about customers that we couldn’t. It seemed he always knew the names of their children, where they took their holidays, their birthdays – and their spouses – their favourite music and restaurants, and consequently if you had to deal with a particular customer you went to Mike and asked, politely and humbly, if he could give you some little titbit that would get you well in with the customer. Mike had carved out a niche for himself. No one asked him to become a walking encyclopedia of customer likes and dislikes. It wasn’t part of his job description. It took a lot of work and unseen effort. And it was a very valuable asset. It didn't take long for the Regional Director to hear of this extra effort Mike had put in and his rise up the corporate ladder was swift, meteoric, unprecedented. That’s all it took. I say ‘all’, it was in fact a lot of work and immensely clever.
Carving out a niche means spotting a useful area that no one else has spotted. It might be as simple as being great at spreadsheets or report writing. It might be, like Mike, knowing something no one else does. It might be being brilliant with rotas or budgets or understanding the system. Make sure you don’t make yourself indispensable or this rule backfires.
Carving out a niche for yourself often takes you out of the normal range of office activities. You get to move around more, be out of the office more often without having to explain to anyone where you are or what you are doing. This makes you stand out from the herd, gives you independence and a superior quality. I once volunteered to edit the company newsletter – bearing in mind the previous rule – and could wander about between our seven branches at will. Obviously, I always made sure my work was done on time and supremely well.
Carving out a niche for yourself frequently means you get noticed by people other than your boss – other people’s bosses. These bosses get together and they talk. If they bring your name up it will be in a good way – ‘I see Rich has been busy doing some really original market analysis’. This makes it difficult for your boss not to promote you if they want to win their peer group approval. If the other bosses think you are a good idea then your boss really has to go along with it.
Rule 1.5 Under promise and over deliver
If you know you can do it by Wednesday always say Friday. If you know it will take your department a week, say two. If you know it will cost an extra two people to get the new machine installed and up and running, then say three.
This isn’t dishonest, merely prudent. If it gets spotted that this is what you do, then openly and honestly admit it and say you always build in a contingency percentage into your calculations. They can’t kill you for that.
That’s the first bit. Under promise. And just because you have said Friday or two weeks or whatever doesn’t mean you can coast and use up that allowance. Oh, no. What you have to do is make sure you deliver early, on budget and better than promised. And that’s the second part. Over deliver. This means if you promised to have report finished by Monday, first thing, it is finished but not only is it a report but it also contains the full implementation plans for the new premises. Or if you said you’d have the exhibition stand up and running by Sunday night with only two extra members of staff you have – and you’ve managed to get your major competitor to pull out of the show. Or if you said you’d have a rough proposal you not only have this but also a full colour mock-up, the complete text written and proof-read, all the photos taken and full printing costs and quotes for distribution. Obviously you’ve got to be careful that you don’t overstep the mark and assume responsibilities you haven’t been given, but I’m sure you get the idea.
Again it might be stating the obvious but don’t be too blatant when you do this or your boss will get to expect it – it should be a pleasant surprise not a frequently used tactic.
It also helps sometimes to act dumb. You can pretend you don’t really understand some new technique or software when in reality you know it back to front. Then when you suddenly do all the budgets on the spreadsheets that no one else could, you look good. If, in advance, you had said ‘Oh, yes, I know that, I worked with these spreadsheets at my last place’, there is no surprise and you’ve given the game away – and your advantage.
When you underpromise and overdeliver you have to have a bottom line – in your case, as a Rules Player, it is simply that you will never deliver late or deliver short. That’s it. If you have to sweat blood and work all night then so be it. You will deliver when you said you would – or earlier if you can – without exception. It is better to negotiate a longer delivery time in the first place than to have to let someone done. A lot of people are so keen to be liked, or approved of, or praised that they will agree to the first delivery time offered to them – ‘Oh yes, I can do that’, and then they fail. They look like pushovers in the first place and incompetent in the last.
译文:
法则1：在谈话中行走（1）
这条法则是其他所有法则的基础——了解你的工作，做好它，并且在这项工作上比其他人做的都好。它就这么简单。其秘诀在于，确保没有人知道你为了把工作做得这么好，付出了多大的努力。你可以秘密地、私下进行学习——你只是不将其公开，不让任何人知道你做了此事——而且也绝不让任何人知道你读过此书，这是你的秘密宝典。重要的是要看上去平静，且能干，凌驾于任何事之上，且完全掌控。你轻松、自信的完成每天的工作。你镇定沉着且无法阻挡。然而，你的底线是，你必须确实做好你的基本工作。
法则1.1 让你的工作受到关注
在忙碌喧嚣的办公室生活中，你的工作太容易被忽略了。你正在努力工作，而可能很难记得，要做些努力以提升你在工作中的个人形象和个人声誉。但是这却很重要。你必须让自己得分，这样才能脱颖而出，才会有升职的可能。
最好的方式是要迈出常规的工作事务。如果你每天都要处理这么多小事——其他人也是如此——那么多做小事并不会给你带来更大的好处。但是如果你提交给老板一份报告，阐述如何让大家处理更多的小事，那么你就会受到关注。主动提交报告是在众人中脱颖而出的好办法。这表明你在独立思考，且使用了主动性。但不能太过频繁使用这一点。如果你接二连三地主动向老板提交报告，你也会受到关注，但是方式却彻底错了。你必须遵守某些法则：
* 只是偶尔提交报告
* 确保你的报告确实有用——它将带来好处，或提供利益
* 确保你的名字突出显示
* 确保不只你的老板能看到这份报告，老板的老板也会看到
* 它不必一定是一份报告——也可以是《公司时讯的》一篇文章
当然，让你的工作受到关注的最好方法就是确实能把你的工作做好。把工作做好的最佳方式是完全投入的工作，并忽略其他事项。大量的政策、闲谈、花招、时间浪费以及社交都已工作的名义存在。这并不可行。专注于你的工作，你将比你的同事取得更有利的优势。“法则执行者”一直集中精神。专注于手边的任务——做好你的工作——不要被分散注意力。
法则 1.2 永远不要止步不前
多数人每天开始工作时只有一个想法——过完一天，下班回家。在他们日间的工作中，他们将完成不得不做的事情，以达到那个梦幻般的时刻。而你不会这样。你不会止步不前。对多数人来说，得到一份工作已经足够，他们只是从事这份工作，并停止于此。但是从事一份工作对你来说并未完结——这只是通向终点的手段。你的终点是升职、赚更多钱、成功、获益并提升、积累关系和经验靠自己的努力前进，以及你的愿望清单上列出的内容——见法则3。从某种程度上说，工作与之毫不相干。
是的，你不得不做这些工作。是的，你必须做的非常出色。但是你应该专注于下一步，你在工作中投入的每项活动都只不过是你前进计划的一个齿轮。
当其他人正在想着下次喝茶休息或者如何不做任何工作即可度过这个下午，你将忙于计划并执行你的下一步策略。在理想世界中，“法则执行者”将在午饭前完成工作，这样就可以空出下午时间；为下次升职进行学习，评估相近的同事的竞争力，主动撰写报告以引起对其工作的关注，为每个人研究改进工作流程的方法，进一步了解公司程序和历史。
如果你不能在午饭前完成工作，你必须在工作中或工作前后找适当时间完成这些事情。如果不去做这些事情，你将受到竞争。但是你不会止步不前。不要接受完成工作已经足够这种观点。这是其他人的观点。你会继续前进，做好准备、研究、分析并学习。
我们之前讨论过管理者的走路方式；这就是你要做的事，练习像管理者一样走路——或者你必须掌握的其他人的走路方式。你必须将升职视为——或者其他你想得到的东西——一项运动。你必须继续前进，否则会长出苔藓。你必须有所动作，否则会变得迟钝。你必须喜爱运动，否则会生根发芽。运动要求你不能坐在那里无所事事——不能止步不前。
法则1.3 自告奋勇需谨慎
很多人认为，如果他们对每件事都说“是”，他们就会受到关注、称赞并获得升职。并非如此。在他们之上的聪明的管理者会巧妙的使用“我会完成这件事”，而你说“是”的结果就是过度操劳、能力被低估且没能充分发挥才能。当你为任何事举手自告奋勇之前，先要仔细想一想。你必须问自己各种各样的问题：
* 为什么这个人要找志愿者？
* 这会有助于我的计划吗？
* 如果我不自告奋勇，会影响我的形象吗？
* 这是否是一份低下的工作，所以其他人都不愿做？
* 这个人是否确实负担过多，完成无望，是否真正需要寻求我的帮助？
这可能是一份没人想做的低下工作，如果你自愿去做，可能提升你在公司高管眼中的形象——他们会认为你有能力接受挑战，有能力，且准备好卷起袖子投入进去。另一方面，他们也可能认为你很傻。或者如果你自愿去做整理档案的工作，他们会把你看作只会整理档案的书记员。或者你想通过帮助那些真正需要支持的人来表示你的善意。要谨慎，而且要选对时间。如果这意味着你将看上去像一个猴子，那么就没必要坚持举手自愿行动。只有当你确信这会提升你的形象、让你获益、或者能对受到帮助的人有所改变的时候，才去迈出这一步。
你还要知道，有时候你没有举手或者向前迈步，但是看上去还是表示了自愿。有时候当你所有的同时集体向后迈步，把你晾在那里，好像你自告奋勇，而事实上你并不想这样做。第一次发生这样的事，你要很好的应对，并把工作完成——但是要确保这件事不会再次发生，对“法则执行者”来说，这种事不会发生第二次。下次要竖起耳朵，弄清楚集体方法，确保你与其他人一起向后退。
法则1.4 为自己创造一个有利环境
我曾经与一个同事共事，他有一项了不起的个人技能，他能够在客户身上发现我们发现不了的东西。他好像总是知道客户孩子的名字，他们在哪里度假，他们的生日——还有他们的配偶——他们最喜欢的音乐和饭店，因此如果你需要应付一个特殊客户，你可以去找麦克，礼貌、谦恭地询问他，是否可以向你提供一点宝贵新闻，好让你与客户很好的相处。麦克为自己创造了环境。这并不在他的工作职责范围之内。这需要做大量的工作，且付出无形的努力。然而这确是一笔宝贵的财产。不久之后，地区主管就听说了麦克付出的额外努力，他迅速的、如流星般的、史无前例的登上了公司的管理层。而他全部所做的就是这些。我虽说“全部”，但事实上这需要做很多工作，并且非常聪明。
创造有利环境意味着要找到一处其他人没发现的有用的领域。可能就像出色的撰写数据表或报告这么简单。可能像麦克一样，知道一些其他人不知道的信息。如果会做值班表或预算或了解系统，也很有才气。确保你不会让自己不可或缺，否则这一条将适得其反。
为自己创造有利环境通常需要你在办公活动之外付出其他努力。你更需要四处走动，更频繁的走出办公室，而不必向其他人解释你去哪里，做过什么。这让你脱颖而出，让你独立，且具有更高资质。我曾自愿编辑公司时讯——记住了之前提到的法则——可以随意在我们的7个分部巡视。很显然，我总是确信我的工作能够按时、以绝佳的质量完成。
为自己创造有利环境通常意味着，除了你的老板，你还受到其他人的关注——其他人的老板。这些老板会聚在一起交谈。如果他们提到了你，将会说你的好话——“我看见里奇忙着做一些非常新颖的市场分析呢”。这让你的老板很难不提拔你，如果他还想在同级管理者中得到认可的话。如果其他老板赏识你，那么你的老板就得表示赞同。
法则1.5 少许诺 多兑现
如果你知道你可以周三完成这项工作，承诺周五交货。如果你知道这项工作需要你的部门用一周时间完成，承诺两周交货。如果你知道还需要另外两个人安装、运行新机器，要求三个人。
这并非不诚实，只是谨慎从事。如果你做这种事被发现，那么就坦诚不公的承认，并说明你总是在计划中为紧急情况留有一定比例的时间。
这是第一点。少承诺。承诺周五或两周或其他什么，并不意味着你能轻松自在，并用光限额。哦，不。你要做的是确保你尽早交货，在预算内，且比承诺做的更好。这是第二点。多兑现。这表示如果你承诺周一完成报告，首先，你要交的不只是报告，还包括对新前提的完整的执行计划。或者如果你说过，你会在周日晚上前与手下另外两个人一起完成展台搭建并保证运转良好——你就得让你最主要的竞争对手在这场展会中出局。或者如果你说过你有一个粗略的建议，你不会只有这个，还有一个全色的实体模型，完整的、经审核的书面内容，全部打印好的来自分销点的成本及报价。很显然，你必须非常小心，不会越过限度，且承担比赋予你的更多的职责，但我相信你明白这一点。
此外，在你做这件事的时候，你可能已经做出了明显表示，但不要太过张扬，否则你的老板会开始期待——它应该是一个惊喜，而不是频繁使用的策略。
有时装成哑巴也会起到作用。你可以假装确实不懂某些新技术或软件，而事实上你对它驾轻就熟。之后当你突然在电子数据表上做完了别人无力完成的预算的时候，你看上去更出色。如果你事先说过“哦，是的，我知道这个，我在之前的工作中就用这些数据表”，那就毫无惊喜，你也就放弃了这个游戏——还有你的优势。
当你少承诺，多兑现的时候，你必须有一个底线——作为“法则执行者”，你永远不会推迟兑现或完不成任务。就是这样。如果你必须流血流汗，通宵达旦，那么就要如此。如果你说你会做到，你就要兑现——或者尽量更早兑现——绝无例外。最好在让人完成这项工作之前，商谈是否可以延长交货时间。很多人都愿意被喜欢，或者被认可，或者受到表扬，因此他们会认可第一次要他们交货的时间——“哦好的，我会做的”，结果他们失败了。他们在最开始就是容易被打败的人，并最终不能胜任工作。