The writing style in THE OBVIOUS makes the book highly enjoyable because things are clear cut, nothing is sugarcoated, and the author's advice on getting ahead in business is very true.  There are times when I felt the world would be a better place if business was less cut-throat, but the fact is that to succeed the mind must be on business and nothing else. 

THE OBVIOUS is broken down into several parts: 

-Work Is A Verb

-It's Not About You

-Don't Be A Jerk

-Listen More Than You Talk

-Every Job Is Sales

-Simple Is Better Than Complicated

-Less Is More

-Say What You Mean

-Honesty

-Open Your Mind

-Reality--Deal With It

-Don't Keep Score

-Energy

-Imagine Who You Worked For

-Take Inventory 

I had a boss, he owned a mailing company, before my son was born who showed concern for his office staff.  Peter's two administrative assistants became pregnant at the same time.  The times I threw up at my desk from an unplanned bout of morning sickness, he would drive me home.  When my co-worker dealt with dehydration because of her morning sickness, he immediately had water coolers place in both of our offices.  When I had to drive sixty miles to fix an error the floor staff had made, he called the company and told them I was pregnant so I would be there, but they were not to make me do any heavy lifting.  To me, this is the boss that I would never forget.  He cared about us as people which made all the difference.  He's always been my picture of what a boss should be--fair and caring.   Five years later, he sold his business for five million and retired at the age of 40.  What made him successful in my eyes were that he wasn't a jerk.  To me that is the singlemost important lesson in this book. 

At the same time, I worked for a travel agency before Peter.  We always had customers sign slips of paper (known as pink slips) stating that the airline tickets were non-refundable.  From the day I was hired, my boss had said that we had to remember the customer is always right.  Just as this book says.  One day, a passenger came in and told me that he'd talked to the airline and that the ticket was refundable if there was a death in the family.  I verified it with the airline and then added that passage onto the ticket.  When the owner found out he was furious that I'd added it--even though the airline had validated the statement--and told me that the customer is never right.  Some may want to be careful about following this rule of thumb because the company's owner may not agree.  The good news is that that travel agency is out of business! 

THE OBVIOUS offers solid insight into what makes or breaks a career.  Those looking to climb the corporate ladder will find guidance within the pages.