Bonjour paresse

Last updated
Bonjour Laziness
Bonjour paresse book cover.png
AuthorCorinne Maier
Original titleBonjour paresse
TranslatorDavid Watson, Sophie Hawkes
LanguageFrench
PublisherEditions Michalon
Publication date
2004
Publication placeFrance
Published in English
2005
PagesApprox. 144

Bonjour paresse (Hello Laziness) is the title of an international bestseller by Corinne Maier, a French writer, psychoanalyst, and economist. The book is a highly cynical and humorous critique of work and contemporary French corporate culture (epitomized for Maier by the middle manager) that advocates various ways of undermining the system. Maier advocates that it is in the reader's best interest to work as little as possible. [1] The title is a reference to Françoise Sagan's novel Bonjour Tristesse . It is variously subtitled Jumping Off the Corporate Ladder, or Why Hard Work Doesn’t Pay depending on the edition. Because of their similar attitudes towards the workplace, Maier has been frequently compared to Dilbert creator Scott Adams.

Contents

Maier was subjected to a disciplinary hearing on 17 August 2004 by her employer, Électricité de France, for the writing and publication of Bonjour Paresse. The French newspaper Le Monde ran a front page article about the dispute at the end of July 2004, which did much to publicize the work.

Chapter titles and subheadings

As translated by Sophie Hawkes:

Maier's Ten Counterproposals

Sometimes referred to as the Ten Commandments for the Idle, these counterproposals have been widely reproduced on the Web in a shortened form:

  1. You are a modern-day slave. There is no scope for personal fulfilment. You work for your pay-check at the end of the month, full stop.
  2. It's pointless to try to change the system. Opposing it simply makes it stronger.
  3. What you do is pointless. You can be replaced from one day to the next by any cretin sitting next to you. So work as little as possible and spend time (not too much, if you can help it) cultivating your personal network so that you're untouchable when the next restructuring comes around.
  4. You're not judged on merit, but on whether you look and sound the part. Use much leaden jargon: people will suspect you have an inside track
  5. Never accept a position of responsibility for any reason. You'll only have to work harder for what amounts to peanuts.
  6. Make a beeline for the most useless positions, (research, strategy and business development), where it is impossible to assess your 'contribution to the wealth of the firm'. Avoid 'on the ground' operational roles like the plague.
  7. Once you've found one of these plum jobs, never move. It is only the most exposed who get fired.
  8. Learn to identify kindred spirits who, like you, believe the system is absurd through discreet signs (quirks in clothing, peculiar jokes, warm smiles).
  9. Be nice to people on short-term contracts. They are the only people who do any real work.
  10. Tell yourself that the absurd ideology underpinning this corporate bullshit cannot last for ever. It will go the same way as the dialectical materialism of the communist system. The problem is knowing when...

English translations

Bonjour Paresse has been translated by David Watson (as Hello Laziness) for The Orion Publishing Group Ltd in the United Kingdom, and in the United States by Sophie Hawkes (as Bonjour Laziness) for Random House.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Rule</span> Principle of treating others as one wants to be treated

The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as one would want to be treated by them. It is sometimes called an ethics of reciprocity, meaning that you should reciprocate to others how you would like them to treat you. Various expressions of this rule can be found in the tenets of most religions and creeds through the ages.

Management is the administration of organizations, whether they are a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administration respectively. It is the process of managing the resources of businesses, governments, and other organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mack Gordon</span> Polish-American composer and lyricist of songs for the stage and film

Mack Gordon was an American lyricist for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times in 11 years, including five consecutive years between 1940 and 1944, and won the award once, for "You'll Never Know". That song, along with "The More I See You," has proved among his most enduring, and remains popular in films and television commercials to this day. "At Last" is another of his best-known songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TPS report</span> Type of quality assurance document

A TPS report is a document used by a quality assurance group or individual, particularly in software engineering, that describes the testing procedures and the testing process.

Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities. Desire or determination to work serves as the foundation for values centered on the importance of work or industrious work. Social ingrainment of this value is considered to enhance character through hard work that is respective to an individual's field of work.

Confucian art is art inspired by the writings of Confucius, and Confucian teachings. Confucian art originated in China, then spread westwards on the Silk Road, southward down to southern China and then onto Southeast Asia, and eastwards through northern China on to Japan and Korea. While it still maintains a strong influence within Indonesia, Confucian influence on western art has been limited. While Confucian themes enjoyed representation in Chinese art centers, they are fewer in comparison to the number of artworks that are about or influenced by Daoism and Buddhism.

<i>Fear and Trembling</i> (novel) Novel by Amélie Nothomb

Fear and Trembling is a fictional, satirical novel by Amélie Nothomb, first published in 1999, and translated into English by Adriana Hunter in 2001. It was awarded the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française that year. It was adapted into the film Fear and Trembling in 2003.

<i>Confessions of an Advertising Man</i> Book by David Ogilvy

In Confessions of an Advertising Man, David Ogilvy shares his lessons from advertising consumer brands worldwide in the fifties and sixties in an eleven-chapter playbook of more than two hundred rules that cover corporate and subject matter aspects, the latter focused on the copywriting and illustrations of advertising campaigns for printed media. Two editions were released, in 1963 and 1988.

<i>Le Petit Spirou</i> Belgian comic book series

Le Petit Spirou is a popular Belgian comic strip created by Tome and Janry in 1987. The series developed from La jeunesse de Spirou (1987), a Spirou & Fantasio album in which Tome and Janry set to imagine Spirou's youth. It was developed into a spin-off series shortly afterwards and the authors have focused on it ever since the controversy created after their final Spirou et Fantasio album, Machine qui rêve (1998). New albums are among the bestselling French-language comics, with 330,000 copies for the latest one.

Naiad Press (1973–2003) was an American publishing company, one of the first dedicated to lesbian literature. At its closing it was the oldest and largest lesbian/feminist publisher in the world.

Vicky Jewson is an English screenwriter, producer and film director.

Patrick Spencer Johnson was an American physician and author. He was known for the ValueTales series of children's books, and for his 1998 self-help book Who Moved My Cheese?, which recurred on the New York Times Bestseller list, on the Publishers Weekly Hardcover nonfiction list. Johnson was the chairman of Spencer Johnson Partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin O'Leary</span> Canadian businessman and television personality (born 1954)

Terrence Thomas Kevin O'Leary, sometimes called Mr. Wonderful or Maple Man, is a Canadian businessman, investor, journalist, and television personality. From 2004 to 2014, he appeared on various Canadian television shows, including the business news programs SqueezePlay and The Lang and O'Leary Exchange, as well as the Canadian reality television shows Dragons' Den and Redemption Inc. In 2008, he appeared on Discovery Channel's Project Earth. Since 2009, he has appeared on Shark Tank, the American version of Dragons' Den.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Switch (music producer)</span> English producer, songwriter and DJ

David James Andrew Taylor, better known by his stage name Switch, is an English record producer, songwriter, DJ, and sound engineer. He is best known for his work with Beyoncé, M.I.A. and Major Lazer, of which he was a founding member. He was nominated at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in the Record of the Year category for "Paper Planes" by M.I.A., which he co-produced with Diplo. Other artists he has produced include Christina Aguilera, Chaka Khan, Santigold, and Brandy among many others. He has released various singles under his own name, and is also well known for remixing and producing for many major artists.

Several alternatives to the Ten Commandments have been promulgated by different persons and groups, which intended to improve on the lists of laws known as the Ten Commandments that appear in the Bible. Lists of these kinds exist in many different cultures and times. They are sometimes given names – for example, the Hindu Yamas.

<i>Womenomics</i>

Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success is a non-fiction book written by ABC News' Good Morning America senior national correspondent Claire Shipman and BBC World News America Washington correspondent Katty Kay that was published by HarperCollins on June 2, 2009.

While psychopaths typically represent a very small percentage of workplace staff, the presence of psychopathy in the workplace, especially within senior management, can do enormous damage. Indeed, psychopaths are usually most present at higher levels of corporate structure, and their actions often cause a ripple effect throughout an organization, setting the tone for an entire corporate culture. Examples of detrimental effects include increased bullying, conflict, stress, staff turnover, absenteeism, and reduction in both productivity and social responsibility. Ethical standards of entire organisations can be badly damaged if a corporate psychopath is in charge. A 2017 UK study found that companies with leaders who show "psychopathic characteristics" destroy shareholder value, tending to have poor future returns on equity.

Benchmark is a British game show that aired on Channel 4 from 1 June to 31 December 2015. It was hosted by Paddy McGuinness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corinne Maier</span> French author (born 1963)

Corinne Maier is a Swiss-born, French psychoanalyst, economist, and best-selling writer. She is best known for being the author of Bonjour paresse, a cynical critique of French corporate culture. In 2016, Maier was named as one of the BBC 100 Women.

<i>Bullshit Jobs</i> 2018 book by David Graeber

Bullshit Jobs: A Theory is a 2018 book by anthropologist David Graeber that postulates the existence of meaningless jobs and analyzes their societal harm. He contends that over half of societal work is pointless and becomes psychologically destructive when paired with a work ethic that associates work with self-worth. Graeber describes five types of meaningless jobs, in which workers pretend their role is not as pointless or harmful as they know it to be: flunkies, goons, duct tapers, box tickers, and taskmasters. He argues that the association of labor with virtuous suffering is recent in human history and proposes unions and universal basic income as a potential solution.

References

  1. "Bonjour Laziness". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2018-06-28.