Huh? How did that happen?
I was just poking around the web, and to my amazement, I ran into a book that just came out on March 29, 2011 called (see the Amazon link if you want): Good Boss, Bad Boss: Lessons from Effective and Not-So-Effective Managers. It written by a consultant named Dr. Doreen McGunagle, CEO of Global Strategic Management Solutions. Note the title is identical to my Good Boss, Bad Boss, and the subtitle is also very close to my "How to be the best… and learn from the worst." I will buy the book and read it to make sure that none of the content is lifted ( I suspect it is not, I certainly hope it is not).
I sent this information to my publisher and they may take some kind of action against her. I am not a big believer in suing people in general, and honestly, in this case, I don't think this book will do any financial damage to me. But my main reaction is just to be disgusted, to wonder how this could happen? Did she see my title and then forget it existed — but then later believe she had invented it herself? We humans do things like this sometimes. That is the most charitable explanation. The others are much less charitable, that she is trying to get book sales and consulting work on the back of the the original Good Boss, Bad Boss as it was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. I am not angry with the author, rather, mostly dismayed that anyone would be sloppy or so brazen as to lift the title of another management book and to treat it as her own. She ought to be embarrassed and ashamed, which is punishment enough. If she isn't, and believes her actions are defensible, well, I think that reflects even more poorly on her.
So, that was my little surprise today. I was pretty shocked by the whole thing, and the more I think about, the harder it is for me to understand why and how this happened. What is the upside for her or her publisher? Doesn't it just reflect badly on them?
I would appreciate any thoughts that readers might have, as this whole thing has me quite befuddled.