We purchased "Life's Little Instruction Book," by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. It was subtitled "511 suggestions, observations, and reminders on how to live a happy and rewarding life." The suggestions were both fun and useful. For example, number 210: Commit yourself to constant self-improvement. Number 316: Learn to disagree without being disagreeable.

It seemed clever and fitting to add a number 512 to his collection. So at the back of each copy we stenciled our message in CareerLab green: "512: Use CareerLab for outplacement." It was a soft sell that payed big dividends.