When reading the book "How to Self-Destruct" there is that moment, after pages and pages of laughing at the stupid things other people do in their careers, when the reader hits the prescient passage.

It is that moment when you look up from the pages and say, "Hey, how does this guy know me?"

He doesn't.

It seems there are a lot of people who put a rock 'n' roll quote of the day about using drugs at the end of their e-mail -- and it hasn't worked well for their careers, either.

The subtitle of the book relates to the main theme -- "Making the least of what's left of your career."

Jason Seiden, an executive coach from Chicago, wrote the book in part because "nobody listens to what I have to say."

In meetings with executives, he will tell them they are acting emotionally and are too rash when making assessments, to which they respond by saying that's true but that they are being objective. Mr. Seiden said he tries to point out that being rash and objective are contradictory, but they don't listen.

And, despite the warnings, it's amazing what people do. They want a responsible job, then use an e-mail such as "psychogrrrl69" as their contact on their resume. Or they leave up MySpace pages resplendent with nonflattering frat party pictures and wonder why they aren't getting job interviews.

"It is the wisdom of the World War II generation and the baby boomers tailored to Gen X and Gen Y," Mr. Seiden said about his book.

"How to Self-Destruct" is an exercise in reverse psychology.

Sure there are aisles of books on how to succeed and how to manage organizations, but the fact is hardly anyone reads them, and those who do rarely apply the advice.

"Why would people read my book? Because it's funny. It makes development nonthreatening," Mr. Seiden said.

Section after section of the book shows how members of lower management all the way up to the executive ranks can torpedo their careers.

For instance, when you are interviewing for an executive spot, Mr. Seiden's advice is, "Be negative, uptight and refrain from smiling or laughing. If possible make your hands shake."

And, if you are going to get any sort of business education, make absolutely sure that you skip math and shy away from statistics, they can only help you in your career.

His advice for those who want to run amok in middle management is to "be the bureaucracy" so that when your boss lands a big deal you come in, renegotiate it, demanding everything in writing, and whittle the deal down until about four months later your biggest competitor issues a news release that they got most of the deal.

There is nothing on Harry Stonecipher, the patron saint of torpedoing your career. (For those who don't remember, Mr. Stonecipher was the chief executive officer of Boeing until the rest of the company -- and the rest of the world for that matter -- found out he was cheating on his wife with a female executive back in 2005, which -- and this is the best part -- was in violation of the code of conduct that he instituted in the company.) But there is a nice reference to Jeffrey Skilling of Enron fame and lost fortune.

"We're all blind to our mistakes," Mr. Seiden said, so he puts them in positive form: Do this as a sure-fire way to fail.

He even has strategies based on how far you have gotten in your career. Early on you can show what a slacker you are by looking for shortcuts whenever possible and delegating just about every assignment you have. When you move up, you can keep yourself in lower management by still doing your old job and never telling anyone of your ambition to rise in the organization. Sweet.

You can injure your career by demanding respect, while never offering any and never trusting anyone's word, instead demanding everything in writing.

In between those sections are ways to actually succeed in business and do the right thing by acting ethically, taking the blame for your team instead of passing it down and rewarding the successes of your workers -- but why would anyone who manages people want to do that?

Mr. Seiden said he wanted the people who read the book to let the message roll around in their heads for a while.

"I like to make them just uncomfortable enough that in 72 hours they connect the dots," he said.

He also is working on a line of videos with a similar message, so people can be entertained and learn the lessons of management -- sort of like "Schoolhouse Rock" for suits.

The first viewing of those videos can be seen on his Web site at www.howtoselfdestruct.com, which also has a link to www.Amazon.com to buy the book.