I have lots of “anti-job” books on my shelves at Chateau Grundy.

I bought most of them a few years ago around the time I quit my City of London banking job. No doubt they played a part in that decision.

But now I’m back in the merry world of banking, I see these books in a different light.

While most of them are subtly “anti-job” (and one or two are much more blatant), if you read the books with an open-mind and look past the whole “anti-job” thing, they’re PACKED with takeaways which anyone can use to get more out of their day job or simply make their day job less of a slog.

Starting with:

*** Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. The story of how Phil Knight built Nike from nothing. Which might sound like the perfect book for an entrepreneur rather than an employee, until you realise it's actually a book about someone who had no idea what he was doing and “just did it” anyway (very on brand). Like the time Phil flew to Japan to pitch a shoe company he wanted to work with, even though he had no business, no plan and not even an appointment. The book is a masterclass in how to back yourself to do the stuff you want to do, wherever you want to do it

*** Range by David Epstein. I’ve never thought of myself as a specialist. I’ve always had lots of hobbies (chess, magic, running, poker, Rubik’s Cube solving…the list goes on). My jobs have mostly had a generalist bent to them too. Even today, I’m a coach and writer who has a banking job on the side. I always thought the generalist in me was a weakness. But Range argues it’s a huge strength instead. Which, as HR will tell you, is not exactly what your job spec asked for. 

Yet Epstein cites big-name generals who won on the battlefield not because they were experts but because they weren’t. He writes about how Nobel Prize winners are more likely to have serious hobbies outside their field. And he name-checks successful comic book artists whose influences had nothing to do with comics. If you’re a generalist at work surrounded by specialists, this book will show you how your generalist powers can be your edge

*** Choose Yourself by James Altucher. I'm not sure if I first came across James via his chess escapades or the ferocity of his anti-job twaddle. Either way, the book argues that the era of companies choosing you, promoting you, developing you and rewarding your loyalty is over. If you can look past this, you’ll find a book whose main ethos is “create your own opportunities rather than wait for permission” and then gives lots of practical ways to do that (inside the 9 to 5 too, with a bit of thought)

*** Time To Think by Nancy Kline: The book is sitting on my bookshelf here at Chateau Grundy and it's also part of the reading list for my Executive Coaching Apprenticeship. Probably the least “anti-job” book on this list, yet it shines a light on just how clunky, showy and slow meeting culture is in most companies. The book then lays out how to change that. 

For instance, have you ever considered that the quality of your listening impacts the quality of the thinking of the person you’re listening to? If you’re the kind of person who starts to check your emails when someone else starts talking, you probably haven’t. Anyway, this book is a must for anyone like me who spends chunks of their day in meetings and on calls

*** Stop Fixing Yourself by Anthony De Mello. I’ve written a lot about this book recently. At its heart is the idea that our need to keep improving is what keeps us stuck. So certainly “anti-corporate” in the sense that it pokes a big hole in the “be better, do more, climb higher” mindset. But it’s a must read for anyone who wants to turn down the mental chatter in their head and make the presentation, have the awkward conversation or just send the damn email

*** The Aladdin Factor (How To Ask For What You Want And Get It) by Jack Canfield: The book is built around the idea that most people don’t get what they want not because it isn’t available, but because they never ask. Canfield compares children (who ask hundreds of questions a day – something I’m looking forward to when Baby Grundy starts stringing a few words together) with adults (who can go through a whole day without asking even a single question) and points out that this shift happens when we enter “the system” (e.g. our jobs). Honestly, this is THE book for anyone who wants to get better at negotiating, getting buy in from your boss, asking for raise and so on. I’ve used the ideas in this book myself multiple times in my day job and still do 

*** Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. A book which raises a sceptical eye at the whole idea of being employed. I started writing a paragraph about this book for this email and it quickly turned into two paragraphs and then three. Turns out I have a lot to say about Rich Dad, Poor Dad! But today’s email has gone long enough so we’ll save this up for tomorrow

It's not every day you find someone recommending anti-job books to people with day jobs. 

Equally, it's not every day that someone writes a book called Don't Quit Your Job rather than Quit Your Job, Start Your Dropshipping Empire and Retire to a Beach in Thailand. 

But that's the book I've written (Don’t Quit Your Job, not the Thailand one).

Watch this space. It's not long until my book hits Amazon's digital shelves.

To fulfilment,

Tom