Introducing: Hack Your Bureaucracy
We’re excited to announce our new book, Hack Your Bureaucracy: Get Things Done No Matter Your Role On Any Team. It’s available on Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org, or Barnes & Noble for pre-order now!
We wrote this book for anyone feeling stuck. Whether you are starting your career, in middle management, or leading an organization, we’re confident you’ll find it hugely useful.
But don’t take it from us. Steven Levitt, the author of Freakonomics and University of Chicago professor, wrote this about Hack Your Bureaucracy:
- “I’ve never read a book with so many good ideas. Every page that I read, I kicked myself, thinking back on all the times I tried to make change and failed. If Hack Your Bureaucracy had been written 30 years earlier, I would have accomplished so much more in my life.”
Whether you are in a company, non-profit, university, military unit, or government agency — there is something in this book for you. Even if you are struggling with your condo association bylaws, our tactics will help you cut through red tape and create the change you want to see.
We wrote this book because we want to help you be more effective. It’s our experience that change doesn’t happen just because the person in charge declares it should, even if that person is the CEO of your company or the President of the United States. Instead, most change comes from people like you.
Regardless of your industry, role, or team, Hack Your Bureaucracy outlines exactly how to get started, take initiative on your own, and transform your ideas into impact.
We make it fun — including stories like the time Marina disappointed President Obama in a Cabinet meeting, the time Nick got thrown out of the White House Science Fair, and how our friends used actual trash to test a mobile website with teenagers and change the course of a national initiative.
We broke the book into six sections:
- Define the problem
- Learn your org
- Pitch the solution
- Start small and build momentum
- Build your team
- Make it stick
Each of these sections has a bunch of individual tactics and great stories.
Want an example tactic? Here are just a few:
- Find Your Paperclip: use small steps to achieve big change
- Set Your North Star: keep your end goal in sight
- Cultivate the Karass: assemble an adept team and network
- Don’t Waste a Crisis: turn every opportunity into a chance for change
- Stab People in the Chest: build trust with your detractors
There are more than 50 tactics in this book — some you’ll use immediately, and others that will be the perfect fit in the future. Consider it a reference guide for getting stuff done, and a book you can pick up and flip through again and again for inspiration and motivation.
Still haven’t pre-ordered? Maybe these people can convince you:
- “If you’ve ever been frustrated by red tape, think of this book as a pair of scissors. Marina Nitze and Nick Sinai are master bureaucracy busters, and their experience in the White House shows how you can root out inefficiency in your own backyard.”―Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THINK AGAIN and host of the TED podcast WorkLife
- “Nick and Marina are incredibly gifted change agents, and in Hack Your Bureaucracy, they provide hard-won lessons and wisdom that will be invaluable to everyone from entrepreneurs trying to build great companies to innovators working to change institutions of all kinds from the inside out. Like working with Nick and Marina, the book is energizing, inspiring, and an absolute blast — a how-to manual for driving change unlike any other.”―Todd Park, cofounder of Devoted Health, Athenahealth, and Castlight Health and former U.S. CTO
- “A master class on intrapreneurship. If you want to drive change in large organizations, Hack Your Bureaucracy is a must read.”―Eric Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Futures and former CEO of Google
- “A deeply empowering and practical book: for anyone, anywhere, who just wants to GET STUFF DONE.” ―Cecilia Muñoz, former Director, White House Domestic Policy Council under President Obama
Thank you for pre-ordering on Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org, or Barnes & Noble! Please reach out if you want us to do a book talk or a bulk order for your organization.
— Marina Nitze and Nick Sinai
