Beat The System

This sequel to Robert MacDonald's first book, Cheat to Win, takes on the red tape that can stifle creative thinking and the risk-taking a company needs to thrive over the long term. Drawing on real-world examples, it offers hands-on methods for pushing back against bureaucracy, whether across an entire company, within a single department, or in one person's job.

MacDonald traces how a company's culture takes shape and how rules and routine procedures gradually work their way into it. He then shows that an entrepreneurial culture can still be built inside an organization that has to operate in a bureaucratic world. His approach rests on practical steps: giving employees a real stake in the outcome, bringing them into decisions, setting a shared purpose, encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit, and sharing rewards widely.

MacDonald spent his career in financial services, starting as a door-to-door insurance salesman and eventually becoming CEO of Allianz Life of North America. He also founded LifeUSA, where he served as CEO and chairman. He lives in Wayzata, Minnesota.