Advice is for Winners

The Advice is for Winners manuscript has six parts which follow a traveler metaphor:

1. The Landscape
2. Scouting Reports
3. The Map
4. Boulders and Watering Holes
5. Paths Well Traveled
6. The Destination

Part 1 explains the reasons for the book, analyzes what advice actually consists of, and goes through the many reasons (excuses) why people avoid seeking advice.

Part 2 reviews and builds on prior work: self-improvement books, scholarly literature, and proverbs.

Part 3 is about how to do advice-seeking right, taking an end-to-end view.

Part 4 looks at interesting or problematic stopovers, from dealing with contradictory advice, to the influence of national culture, and the proper role of the web and social media.

Part 5 looks at special cases of advice-seeking: recruiting & hiring, changing jobs, and picking a major.

Part 6 wraps up the lessons of the book.

Question for readers:  what questions about the advisory process would you like to see answered?

Think of a problem that is puzzling you. Should you seek personalized advice on the right course of action? Please click on Tools above and take the 20-item questionnaire, with true/false questions such as:

• Others will suffer consequences if I do the wrong thing.
• Others before me have often faced a similar problem.
• Breaking totally new ground will be rewarded.