What You'll Never Learn on the Internet

While the Internet challenges many traditional ways of working, it does not change 'everything' — some of the most important skills necessary for doing business can never be learnt there.

In What You'll Never Learn on the Internet, Mark H McCormack provides clarity for those befuddled by the blinding speed of change in this new business world, focusing on the need for agile thinking and humane behaviour. With candour and humour he shares the skills, techniques and wisdom gleaned from his own unbeatable experience and extraordinary success in building IMG — the world's dominant sports marketing company — which represents clients such as Tiger Woods, Venus Williams and Tim Henman.

• Introduction
• It Takes Talent to See the Need to Change
• Find the Human Moment in Every Transaction

1. Giving Yourself a Reality Check
• The Person Who Will Change Your Life Is Not in it Now
• Beware the Small Defining Moments
• Know Your Mental Yardstick for Personal Success
• Don't Be Deluded About Your Priorities
• A Goal Is More Achievable if You Break it Down into its Most Manageable Parts
• Letting Things Go Is a Good Goal, Too
• People Who Count on Luck Rarely Get Lucky
• Be as Creative With People as You Are with Your Ideas
• Get a Crossover Skill
• Your Job Is Just Another Project
• Know When to Make an Exception to the Rules
• Don't Lower The Bar For Yourself
2. Speed: The Defining Factor
•  It Is Better to be a Racehorse Than a Plough-horse
• End Your Day on Time
• Pick up the Pace with the Little Tasks
• Don't Bet Against Yourself
• Put Parkinson's Law Into Reverse
• Never Wrestle With A Pig
  
3. Fallacies of theWorkplace
   
• People Who Say They Can Keep a Secret Usually Can't (or, The Ten Most Toxic Lies in Business)
• Two Fruit Baskets Aren't Always Better Than One
• You Don't Need Ten Good Reasons To Make a Decision
• How to Recover From a Bad Decision
• The Goal is More Work, Not Less
• Make Friends with Fear, Ignorance, and Sloth
• It Pays to Overestimate Your Competition
• Don't Be Seduced by Big Ideas
• The Best Ideas Cannot be Stolen
• Don't Let Brainstorming Kill Your Creativity
4. Office Politics
• Find Out Who's on Your Team
• Control Your 'Story' Before Others Control it for You
• It's Nice to Have Friends in Low Places
• You Are Being Judged at Every Meeting
• Winners Know Whom To Trust and Whom to Avoid
• Don't Be Afraid to Tackle the Impossible
• Lose Your Learning Disability
• Develop a Knack for Good Timing
• Your Success Depends on How You Take in and Send out Information
• It's Okay to Rub People the Wrong Way
• Know When to Say 'It's None of Your Business'
5. Acquiring a Power Base
• Don't Let Your Brains Become Your Biggest Liability
• Thinking in Hypotheticals Sharpens the Mind
• Your Résumé Doesn't Always Reveal the True You
• Get Paid for Thinking Rather Than Doing
• Know Your Super Bowl Sunday
• Don't Let Your Values Work Against You
• Every Number One Needs a Loyal Number Two (or, How to be a Good Lieutenant)
• Losing Your Boss's Loyalty Is Never About Business
6. Promotions, Demotions, and Other Career Hiccups
• Promotions Are Not About Fairness
• Don't Be Demotionally Challenged
• Stay in the Game When You've Been Dismissed or Passed Over
• Even the Most Tarnished Reputation Can Be Saved
• A Crisis Doesn't End Until You Learn From It
7. Rules for Deal Makers
• If Your Client Is Changing, You Should Too
• What's Your Talking-to-Listening Ratio?
• People Will Love Your Product if You Let Them Sample it
• Time in Front Of the Customer Is the Best Time of All
• The Best Route Is the Most Direct Route
• No One Likes Surprises
• You Can't Get Your Product on the Shelf Until You Know What You're replacing
• Not All Deal Points Are Created Equal
• Love Or Leave the Low-Hanging Fruit
• Customers Need Even More Managing After the Sale
8. When You're In Charge
•  Look Beyond The Résumé
• Don't Let Colleagues Take Each Other for Granted
• Be Wary of Unanimous Agreement
• Co-opt Your Rivals, Don't Crush Them
• Don't Be Afraid to Send Your People to the Penalty Box
• Unlearn One Acquired Habit a Year
• The Costs You Can Control Are the Costs that Always Get Out of Control
• Some Problems Are Not Worth Knowing
• Know When to Leave Your Worries Alone
• Pay Attention to the 'Intangibles'
• Coffee Should Taste Like Coffee
• Think Like a Parent
• Every Organization Can Improve its Internal Communications
• The Bean Counters Have More Power Than You Imagine (and That's All Right)
• Not Every Budget Deserves Your Respect
9. Etiquette for the New Millennium
• Think Twice Before You Splash Someone or, Why Every Business Is Really Like a Small Town
• Shrink Your World Into a Small Town
• Be Nicer to the People Below You, Tougher on the People Above
• Friends Don't Ask the Impossible of their Friends
• Develop a Genius for Friendship
• Reading People Requires More Than One Reading
• A 'Heads-Up' Has Consequences Too
• The Boss Can Ask a Stupid Question (and Not Sound Stupid)
• You Don't Need to Tell the World You're Networking

McCormack is in fact thought-provoking, but it is not very well written.