How to Order the Book Without Swearing

David Haygood from IDEO wrote me a lovely, funny, note about what happened when "Pete Kale, a friend and an IDEO client with our Transformation group, went into a bookstore to buy The No Asshole Rule to share with his organization." 

In doing so, Pete -- who tells his story below --demonstrates how to order the book without swearing:

On a recent trip, I had a few spare minutes, so I went into a Barnes and Noble specifically to pick up a copy of "The No Asshole Rule". At first, I thought I'd just go over to the business section and find it on my own. After a while, I wasn't having any luck and decided to ask at the information counter. There was a young, college-aged guy at the kiosk, so I started in that direction when he disappeared to do something else and was replaced by a little old lady who just had that look of a prim and proper Sunday School teacher. I just couldn't bring myself to ask her for the book, so I waited a while for the other guy to reappear, but he didn't. So I settled on the strategem of asking her for Robert Sutton's latest book. When the list came up, her brow furrowed a bit and she rotated the monitor in my direction and asked, "which one were you interested in?" 

 

When I pointed to the top one on the list, she knew immediately and exactly where to go. It was the last copy on a separate kiosk, and she looked rather relieved to remove it and hand it to me while shielding the cover from the view of the other customers.

Also, note that Pete also gives thumbs-up to the title:

 

I started reading it at the cafe and quickly realized you couldn't have used another word for the title. It really is the only word that captures the essence.

Thanks Pete!