# _No Ego_ by Cy Wakeman #book-report (chapters 1 through 4) The book really wants leaders to train their employees away from thoughts like "you're wrong; i'm right". It also conveniently presents situations where the employee is wrong ("record your \[own] interactions. identify ways you use your body language, approach, or speech to diminish open dialogue" ). I believe the book when it says that ego is "the enemy of profitability". But it loses me a little when it says "Having an ego is nothing to feel bad about...The Buddha called the ego the source of all suffering". It does not seem to be trying to convince me in good faith. This book does not seem to be grounded in science. It states a lot of opinions and beliefs ("Venting doesn't resolve anything."), and very few theories, all of which (so far) are studies that the author has done. I would more readily believe a thesis that contained references to outside studies. I do think this tool can be helpful for mindfulness and self-reflection: > Your circumstances are not the reason you can't succeed; they are the reality in which you must succeed. I do wonder if the people who issued the complaint against me were projecting. Maybe their own egos were trying to shield them from a perceived threat. > "\[Leadership] is bringing up this issue or asking for this change, so they are to blame for \[employee] feeling at risk or uncomfortable" could just as easily be > "\[Employee] is bringing up this issue or asking for this change, so they are to blame for \[leadership] feeling at risk or uncomfortable" If this rhetoric is something leaders can use on workers, why can't it be used the other way too? I left some other annotations on the ebook of this, but in the end I put it down at the end of chapter 4. There’s no data, barely any references. It’s all anecdotal and the anecdotes themselves are bad (shaming your own kid in your book? and doing so in a way that clearly signals you want to build a rapport with your reader?). A friend put it succinctly: this book must be full of ego, because it’s trying to convince me of a certain way of thinking and behaving that isn’t grounded in fact.