On stage and in the newspaper I am the demography guy, on Twitter I’m the map guy. In real life I am also an avid reader and book clubber. Here are three books that helped me think through how we might restructure the world of work once the whole COVID-19 spook is over. All three are totally worth reading and will go a long way in preparing you for the post-corona workforce.
The first book is one of my favourite books of all time. Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux. You really must read this one! It’s a collection of case studies shows organisations that put people first without being silly ‘death by consensus’ monsters. It’s beautifully written and embedded in integral theory. It permanently changed my outlook on what work should look like.
Blurb: The uplifting message of Reinventing Organizations has resonated with readers all over the world, and they have turned it, one conversation at a time, into a word-of-mouth phenomenon. The book has helped shift the conversation from what’s broken with management today to what’s possible. It is inspiring thousands of organisations–corporations and nonprofits, schools and hospitals–to adopt radically more powerful, soulful, and purposeful practices.
The second book is An Everyone Culture by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey. Your employer probably has some meaningless bla bla on their website about putting people first and investing in their employees. This book provides the scientific foundation for supporting real adult development in the workplace. It’s truly a great book by two wonderful authors.
Blurb: In most organisations nearly everyone is doing a second job no one is paying them for namely, covering their weaknesses, trying to look their best, and managing other people’s impressions of them. There may be no greater waste of a company’s resources. The ultimate cost: neither the organisation nor its people are able to realise their full potential.
What if a company did everything in its power to create a culture in which everyone – not just select ‘high potentials’ – could overcome their own internal barriers to change and use errors and vulnerabilities as prime opportunities for personal and company growth?
The third book is US vs THEM by Ian Bremmer. It’s a bit left field to suggest a sociological and geopolitical to readers wanting to learn about the future of work. The book helped me understand how populist movements shape the world today, how they shape the broader societal framework in which work occurs. The US vs THEM mindset is dangerous and unnecessary. We need a revitalised political system and books like this one helped me to sort my thoughts on the matter.
Reactions: “Required reading to help repair a world in pieces and build a world at peace.”
– António Guterres, United Nations Secretary General
“Ian Bremmer is provocative, controversial, and always intelligent about the state of the world, which he knows so well.”
– Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
Happy reading everyone! – Simon
Simon Kuestenmacher is a Co-Founder and Director at The Demographics Group. His columns, media commentary and public speaking focus on current global socio-demographic trends and how these impact Australia. He’s also a self-confessed map lover.
