I'm Trying to Get You Fired

Accountability Excerpts

Oct 19, 2025

Several times, I have referenced a book that I have been working on. Why do I keep bringing it up? I am trying to make myself accountable to you. I spent months on the book this year. I fear that in review mirror, the passion is fading to finish it. Or maybe, my confidence in the value of the work is waning.

The book is too aggressive and crass (as I am). I think it is about middle managers understanding their value and giving them thoughts to help claim back their time and self-esteem. It’s definitely tough love. I think it may only help people who are desperate for change. It will not hit the general public because most people think the act of growth is the reading of the book, not the application of the knowledge.

I don’t think it will sell because I will not un-crass it. I also will not organize it in a manner that becomes a step-by-step guide. It is a philosophical book for people whose current philosophy rests upon ‘not getting in trouble’.

In that spirit, I present you with two sections of the book. The ‘table of contents’ (which I find somewhat amusing) and the final note of the book: Dream, Motherfucker, Dream.

Opening Notes

The Beatific Vision and the Angels
A Letter to My Wife, Sami
This Book Is Not for You

Part One: You Are Killing Yourself and Calling It Leadership

You Used to Be the Best Employee. Now, You’re a Miserable Manager.
I Am Trying to Get You Fired
Nobody Cares. Work Harder. Unless You Shouldn’t.
Smiling While Everything Burns
If Your Words Fall in the Forest…
A Full Hand of Wishes
The Last Straw
The Fear of Getting Fired

Part Two: Clarity Is More Generous Than Kindness

Monuments in Time
Ultimate Responsibility Should Scare You Shitless
Own the Whole Damn Mess
You Can’t Hold It All, So Think
Act Like It’s Yours Because It Is
You Don’t Have to Be Me
Mise en Place
One Cook, One Station, No Excuses
Everything Touches Everything
XYZ… PDQ
Fires, Fireflies, and Firing
Needles and Dumptrucks
The Chair Test
Are You Anti-Semantic?
Your Communication Mise en Place
The Sound of Leadership
Murphy’s Law Is More Valuable Than Gravity

Part 3: Ownership

Energy Never Dies, Butterfly
A Bulletproof Gang
Manage Your Boss
Build It to Leave It
Dream, Motherfucker

Closing Note: Dream, Motherfucker, Dream

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Everything is everything.
Butterfly theory.
Thermodynamics.
God.
Paradox.
It’s all intertwined.
We’re all wrapped together in time, 
like a giant machine.
Each part, each rotation, matters.
But your thoughts?
They matter the most.
Your perceptions.
Your perspectives.
Your philosophies and your morals.
You’re still a people pleaser.
I doubt this little book changed that.
Not yet.
But your thoughts are moving.
They’re shifting.

Maybe tomorrow, 
one small action shows you something new
That you can make change without betraying yourself.
Without losing who you are.
And then it builds.

All those self-limiting thoughts you’ve carried
Wanting to be liked.
Confusing “nice” with “kind.”
Mistaking popularity for respect.
Thinking management means availability.
Losing time to everyone else’s fire.
That’s still in you.
But it’s starting to move.
It’s starting to burn oﬀ.
Because if you find even a little clarity
A little confidence
You’ll start making your work better.
Your life better.
You’ll start gaining back your time.
And when you do?
That’s a badge of honor.
That’s your story.
Something to tell your daughter 
when she’s wrecked by mean girl bullshit.
Something to hand oﬀ to 
the new manager you’re training to replace you.
Something you’ll carry with you
Not like armor. Like proof.

You matter.
You have an eﬀect.
On people. On systems. On the world.
Even when you don’t know it.

Especially then.

Your energy doesn’t disappear.
It doesn’t evaporate.
It runs through this place.
Through your words, your actions, your example.
It shows up tomorrow.
Next year.
Or in someone else’s voice two states away.
That’s how this works.
We don’t waste eﬀort in this world.
Even if it feels like you did, 
it’ll come back around.
The lesson.
The impact.
The ripple.
You might never see it.
But it’ll be real.
You are a power.
You are St. Michael.
A tiny voice of truth that kicks oﬀ the butterfly wings.

And those wings?
They move mountains.
They save lives.

But you deserve more.
Know this:
Your place in the world is bigger than you believe.
So dream.

Pick the wildest shit you can imagine.
Dream it.
Build it.
Or let it go.
Because that dream isn’t wasted either.
It doesn’t make you more than you are.
It just reveals that you already were.
By your nature.
By your Creator.

You are a powerful person.
One, I respect for trying.
One, I care about enough to say:
Dream, motherfucker.
Dream.
Because it just might save the world.