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عصر سنت گریزی، سازمان و مدیریت در قرن بیست و یکم
عصر سنت گریزی، سازمان و مدیریت در قرن بیست و یکم
The Age of Unreason
تغییر: طرح بحث، ارقام، نظریه
کار: مقدمه، شازمان شبدری، سازمان فدرال، سازمان سه آی
زیستن: مقدمه، مجموعه ها، اختراع دوباره آموزش، یک جامعه واژگون
پایان سخن، برای مطالعه ی بیشتر، نمایه
The Age of Unreason
تغییر: طرح بحث، ارقام، نظریه
کار: مقدمه، شازمان شبدری، سازمان فدرال، سازمان سه آی
زیستن: مقدمه، مجموعه ها، اختراع دوباره آموزش، یک جامعه واژگون
پایان سخن، برای مطالعه ی بیشتر، نمایه
290 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
39 people are currently reading
1,594 people want to read
About the author
Charles B. Handy
52books128followersCharles Brian Handy was an Irish author and philosopher who specialised in organizational behavior and management. Among the ideas he advanced are the "portfolio career" and the "shamrock organization" (in which professional core workers, freelance workers and part-time/temporary routine workers each form one leaf of the "shamrock").
Handy was rated among the Thinkers 50, a private list of the most influential living management thinkers. In 2001, he was second on this list, behind Peter Drucker, and in 2005, he was tenth. When the Harvard Business Review had a special issue to mark the publication's 50th anniversary Handy, Peter Drucker, and Henry Mintzberg were asked to write special articles.
In July 2006, Handy was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Law by Trinity College Dublin.
Handy was rated among the Thinkers 50, a private list of the most influential living management thinkers. In 2001, he was second on this list, behind Peter Drucker, and in 2005, he was tenth. When the Harvard Business Review had a special issue to mark the publication's 50th anniversary Handy, Peter Drucker, and Henry Mintzberg were asked to write special articles.
In July 2006, Handy was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Law by Trinity College Dublin.
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February 8, 2022
The Age of Unreason, Charles B. Handy
George Bernard Shaw observed that the reasonable man adapts himself to the world while the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. In this book, Charles Handy shows why we need more unreasonable men and women today with the ability to break out of old ways of thinking in order to use change to our advantage.
Originally published: 1980.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال1996میلادی
عنوان: عصر سنت گریزی، سازمان و مدیریت در قرن بیست و یکم؛ نویسنده چارلز هَندی؛ مترجم عباس مخبر؛ تهران، طرح نو، نامگان، سال1374؛ در290ص، مصور، نمودار، چاپ چهارم تهران، طرح نو، سال1387؛ در290ص؛ شابک9645625726؛ موضوع تحول سازمانی - رفتار سازمانی - سده20م
فهرست: «تغییر: طرح بحث، ارقام، نظریه»؛ «کار: مقدمه، سازمان شبدری، سازمان فدرال، سازمان سه آی»؛ «زیستن: مقدمه، مجموعه ها، اختراع دوباره آموزش، یک جامعه واژگون»؛ «پایان سخن»، «برای مطالعه ی بیشتر»، نمایه
انسان معقول، خود را با جهان، منطبق میسازد، حال آنکه انسان غیرمعقول، سعی میکند جهان را بر خویش منطبق سازد؛ پایان نقل از جرج برنارد شاو
نقل از متن: (مانند آنچه پس از اختراغ گرمایش مرکزی اتفاق افتاد، امروز، تلفن و ملحقات آن نیز، این امکان را بوجود آورده است، که مردمان با یکدیگر کار کنند، بدون آنکه با هم در یک محل واحد باشند؛ در حال حاضر سازمان پراکنده یک واقعیت است، همان طور که خواهیم دید، این وضع پیامدهای قابل توجهی دارد؛ البته موهبتی بی چون و چرا نیست، زیرا با هم بودن هماره نوعی تفریح نیز بوده است؛ به گفته پاسکال «کلیه مشکلات جهان از این واقعیت ناشی میشوند که انسان نمیتواند به تنهایی در یک اتاق بنشیند»، شاید انسانها بیش از پیش ناگزیر از پذیرش چنین وضعی باشند.)؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 28/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 18/11/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
George Bernard Shaw observed that the reasonable man adapts himself to the world while the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. In this book, Charles Handy shows why we need more unreasonable men and women today with the ability to break out of old ways of thinking in order to use change to our advantage.
Originally published: 1980.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال1996میلادی
عنوان: عصر سنت گریزی، سازمان و مدیریت در قرن بیست و یکم؛ نویسنده چارلز هَندی؛ مترجم عباس مخبر؛ تهران، طرح نو، نامگان، سال1374؛ در290ص، مصور، نمودار، چاپ چهارم تهران، طرح نو، سال1387؛ در290ص؛ شابک9645625726؛ موضوع تحول سازمانی - رفتار سازمانی - سده20م
فهرست: «تغییر: طرح بحث، ارقام، نظریه»؛ «کار: مقدمه، سازمان شبدری، سازمان فدرال، سازمان سه آی»؛ «زیستن: مقدمه، مجموعه ها، اختراع دوباره آموزش، یک جامعه واژگون»؛ «پایان سخن»، «برای مطالعه ی بیشتر»، نمایه
انسان معقول، خود را با جهان، منطبق میسازد، حال آنکه انسان غیرمعقول، سعی میکند جهان را بر خویش منطبق سازد؛ پایان نقل از جرج برنارد شاو
نقل از متن: (مانند آنچه پس از اختراغ گرمایش مرکزی اتفاق افتاد، امروز، تلفن و ملحقات آن نیز، این امکان را بوجود آورده است، که مردمان با یکدیگر کار کنند، بدون آنکه با هم در یک محل واحد باشند؛ در حال حاضر سازمان پراکنده یک واقعیت است، همان طور که خواهیم دید، این وضع پیامدهای قابل توجهی دارد؛ البته موهبتی بی چون و چرا نیست، زیرا با هم بودن هماره نوعی تفریح نیز بوده است؛ به گفته پاسکال «کلیه مشکلات جهان از این واقعیت ناشی میشوند که انسان نمیتواند به تنهایی در یک اتاق بنشیند»، شاید انسانها بیش از پیش ناگزیر از پذیرش چنین وضعی باشند.)؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 28/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 18/11/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
June 30, 2012
As best described by the author: "The purpose of this book is to promote a better understanding of the changes which are already about us, in order that we may, as individuals or as a society, suffer less and profit more.Changes, after all, is only another word for growth, another synonym for learning. We can all do it, and enjoy it, if we want to. The story or argument of this book rests on three assumptions:
1) That the changes are different this time: they are discontinuous and not part of a pattern; such discontinuity happens from time to time in history, although it is confusing and disturbing, particularly to those in power.
2) that is is the little changes which can in fact make the biggest differences to our lives, even if these go unnoticed at the time, and that is is the changes in the way our work is organized which will make the biggest differences to the way we all will live; and
3) that discontinuous change requires discontinuous upside-down thinking to deal with it, even if both thinkers and thoughts appear absurd at first sight."
The book covers the various aspects that these changes affect including professional (organizations where we work), personal, and government. The author's main objective is: "If people start to think unreasonably and try to shape their world the way they think it ought to be, then I shall be content."
A very deep and insightful analysis of the world we are living in, and the necessary shift in the way we think and act within it. The breadth of areas covered in this book and its completeness are to be commended.
Below are key excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:
1- "It is best, I realized, to think of learning as a wheel divided into four parts: questions, theories, testing, and reflections. I describe it as a wheel to emphasize that it is meant to go round and round. One set of questions, duly answered and tested and reflected upon, leads on to another."
2- "Learning is not just knowing the answers...It does not help you to change, or to grow, it does not move the wheel...Learning is not the same as study, nor the same as training...It is a cast of mind, a habit of life, a way of thinking about things, a way of growing...Learning is not automatic, it requires energy, thought, courage and support...Learning is not for the intellectuals, who often shine at the theorizing stage, but are incurious and unadventurous and therefore add little to their experience as they go through life. Learning is not finding out what other people already know, but is solving our own problems for our own purposes, by questioning, thinking and testing until the solution is part of our lives."
3- "I am suggesting, on the basis of good evidence, that those who learn best and most, and change most comfortably, are those who a) take responsibility for themselves and for their future; b) have a clear view of what they want that future to be; c) want to make sure they get it; and d) believe they can."
4- "...the organization of today is made up of three very different expectations, managed differently, paid differently, organized differently...The first leaf of the shamrock represents the core workers...these are the people who are essential to the organization. These are the people who are essential to the organization. Between them they own the organizational knowledge which distinguishes that organization from its counterparts...If the core is smaller, who then does the work? Increasingly, it is contracted out to organizations I call the second leaf of the shamrock...The third leaf of the shamrock is the flexible labor force, all those part-time workers and temporary workers who are the fastest growing part of the employment scene."
5- "Alongside the emerging shamrock organization we can discern the gradual development of the federal organization...Federalism seeks to make it big by keeping it small, or at least independent, combining autonomy with cooperation. It is the method which businesses are slowly, and painfully, evolving for getting the best of both worlds - the size which gives them clout in the marketplace and in the financial centers, as well as some economies of scale, and the small unti size which gives them the flexibility which they need, as well as the sense of community for which individuals increasingly hanker."
6- "The Japanese have a nice way of developing their high-potential young people. They actually have a fast-track route for them, but instead of it being a vertical fast-track up though the organization, it is a horizontal fast-track, a succession of different jobs, real jobs with tough standards to be met, but all at the same level. The advantages are that not only does the yound person get a wider view of the organization, he or she gets a chance to test our their talents and skills in a wide variety of roles."
7- "The new formula for success, and for effectiveness is I3=AV, where I stands for Intelligence, Information, and Ideas, and AV means added value in cash or in kind."
8- "The research made it clear that there is no optimal pattern for a marriage. All patterns are possible. It seems essential to have a joint understanding of what the pattern is, how and when it might change, what the consequences are for living in a certain patterns and what are the costs and benefits. People clearly can change their pattern and what are the costs and benefits. People clearly can change their pattern if both parties want to. Separation and divorce often seem to occur because one partner wants to change the pattern and the other does not."
9- "The upside-down school would make study more like work, based on real problems to be solved or real tasks to be done, in groups of mixed ages and different types of ability, all of them useful."
10- "Inevitably, now, government will have increasingly to deal direct with individuals rather than with organizations, will have to rethink the categories it puts people into, and find some new ways to organize the collection and distribution of wealth if the organization cannot do it for them."
11- "The Age of Unreason is inevitably going to be something of an exploration, but exploring is at the heart of learning, and of changing and of growing. This is what I believe, and this is what gives me hope."
1) That the changes are different this time: they are discontinuous and not part of a pattern; such discontinuity happens from time to time in history, although it is confusing and disturbing, particularly to those in power.
2) that is is the little changes which can in fact make the biggest differences to our lives, even if these go unnoticed at the time, and that is is the changes in the way our work is organized which will make the biggest differences to the way we all will live; and
3) that discontinuous change requires discontinuous upside-down thinking to deal with it, even if both thinkers and thoughts appear absurd at first sight."
The book covers the various aspects that these changes affect including professional (organizations where we work), personal, and government. The author's main objective is: "If people start to think unreasonably and try to shape their world the way they think it ought to be, then I shall be content."
A very deep and insightful analysis of the world we are living in, and the necessary shift in the way we think and act within it. The breadth of areas covered in this book and its completeness are to be commended.
Below are key excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:
1- "It is best, I realized, to think of learning as a wheel divided into four parts: questions, theories, testing, and reflections. I describe it as a wheel to emphasize that it is meant to go round and round. One set of questions, duly answered and tested and reflected upon, leads on to another."
2- "Learning is not just knowing the answers...It does not help you to change, or to grow, it does not move the wheel...Learning is not the same as study, nor the same as training...It is a cast of mind, a habit of life, a way of thinking about things, a way of growing...Learning is not automatic, it requires energy, thought, courage and support...Learning is not for the intellectuals, who often shine at the theorizing stage, but are incurious and unadventurous and therefore add little to their experience as they go through life. Learning is not finding out what other people already know, but is solving our own problems for our own purposes, by questioning, thinking and testing until the solution is part of our lives."
3- "I am suggesting, on the basis of good evidence, that those who learn best and most, and change most comfortably, are those who a) take responsibility for themselves and for their future; b) have a clear view of what they want that future to be; c) want to make sure they get it; and d) believe they can."
4- "...the organization of today is made up of three very different expectations, managed differently, paid differently, organized differently...The first leaf of the shamrock represents the core workers...these are the people who are essential to the organization. These are the people who are essential to the organization. Between them they own the organizational knowledge which distinguishes that organization from its counterparts...If the core is smaller, who then does the work? Increasingly, it is contracted out to organizations I call the second leaf of the shamrock...The third leaf of the shamrock is the flexible labor force, all those part-time workers and temporary workers who are the fastest growing part of the employment scene."
5- "Alongside the emerging shamrock organization we can discern the gradual development of the federal organization...Federalism seeks to make it big by keeping it small, or at least independent, combining autonomy with cooperation. It is the method which businesses are slowly, and painfully, evolving for getting the best of both worlds - the size which gives them clout in the marketplace and in the financial centers, as well as some economies of scale, and the small unti size which gives them the flexibility which they need, as well as the sense of community for which individuals increasingly hanker."
6- "The Japanese have a nice way of developing their high-potential young people. They actually have a fast-track route for them, but instead of it being a vertical fast-track up though the organization, it is a horizontal fast-track, a succession of different jobs, real jobs with tough standards to be met, but all at the same level. The advantages are that not only does the yound person get a wider view of the organization, he or she gets a chance to test our their talents and skills in a wide variety of roles."
7- "The new formula for success, and for effectiveness is I3=AV, where I stands for Intelligence, Information, and Ideas, and AV means added value in cash or in kind."
8- "The research made it clear that there is no optimal pattern for a marriage. All patterns are possible. It seems essential to have a joint understanding of what the pattern is, how and when it might change, what the consequences are for living in a certain patterns and what are the costs and benefits. People clearly can change their pattern and what are the costs and benefits. People clearly can change their pattern if both parties want to. Separation and divorce often seem to occur because one partner wants to change the pattern and the other does not."
9- "The upside-down school would make study more like work, based on real problems to be solved or real tasks to be done, in groups of mixed ages and different types of ability, all of them useful."
10- "Inevitably, now, government will have increasingly to deal direct with individuals rather than with organizations, will have to rethink the categories it puts people into, and find some new ways to organize the collection and distribution of wealth if the organization cannot do it for them."
11- "The Age of Unreason is inevitably going to be something of an exploration, but exploring is at the heart of learning, and of changing and of growing. This is what I believe, and this is what gives me hope."
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December 19, 2024another day another boek voor werk (en ja ik sla ze op omdat ik mijn challenge anders niet haal)
June 10, 2016
Я почти всегда смотрю на книги с подобным названием с осторожностью и критически воспринимаю их. При том, что я далеко не консерватор, а склонен смотреть на изменения с рациональной и зачастую новаторской точки зрения. А книга Чарльза Хэнди "Время безрассудства. Искусство управления в организации будущего" стала хорошим исключением. Она мне очень понравилась и стала одной из лучших когда либо прочитанных книг о менеджменте.
Сам автор наделен очень ценным качеством - он умеет, как говорится, "зрить в корень", поддавать глубокому анализу устоявшиеся казалось бы истины и находить в них серьёзные просчеты, которые с большой долей вероятности могут привести к пагубным результатам.
Хэнди не просто человек, который очень здраво рассуждает, он известный ученый, профессор Лондонской школы бизнеса, а также до научной карьеры занимал высокий пост в компании Shell.
По моему мнению, самое ценное в книге это то, что автор учит читателя как смотреть на простые и сложные бизнес концепции под рационально-критическим углом зрения, видеть те или иные ограничения и способы их пересмотра для изменений в лучшую сторону. Уверен, что прочтя книгу вы станете смотреть шире на те или иные идеи, концепции, видение, процессы и остальные вещи без которых не возможна жизнь в компаниях, организациях и даже в целых государствах.
Эта книга не зря входит в список 100 лучших бизнес книг по версии Джека Коверта, а автор в список 50 выдающихся мыслителей и также самых влиятельных теоретиков менеджмента на ряду с такими людьми как Питер Друкер.
Книги подобной этой неизменно должны быть обязательными к прочтению.
Сам автор наделен очень ценным качеством - он умеет, как говорится, "зрить в корень", поддавать глубокому анализу устоявшиеся казалось бы истины и находить в них серьёзные просчеты, которые с большой долей вероятности могут привести к пагубным результатам.
Хэнди не просто человек, который очень здраво рассуждает, он известный ученый, профессор Лондонской школы бизнеса, а также до научной карьеры занимал высокий пост в компании Shell.
По моему мнению, самое ценное в книге это то, что автор учит читателя как смотреть на простые и сложные бизнес концепции под рационально-критическим углом зрения, видеть те или иные ограничения и способы их пересмотра для изменений в лучшую сторону. Уверен, что прочтя книгу вы станете смотреть шире на те или иные идеи, концепции, видение, процессы и остальные вещи без которых не возможна жизнь в компаниях, организациях и даже в целых государствах.
Эта книга не зря входит в список 100 лучших бизнес книг по версии Джека Коверта, а автор в список 50 выдающихся мыслителей и также самых влиятельных теоретиков менеджмента на ряду с такими людьми как Питер Друкер.
Книги подобной этой неизменно должны быть обязательными к прочтению.
January 14, 2012
چارلز هندی به فیلسوف مدیریت معروف است و سال ها در شرکت های بزرگ فعالیت کرده و فلسفه و مدیریت را در دانشگاه دنبال کرده است
با اینکه کتاب در سال 1991 چاپ شده ولی به شکل جالبی تغییر پارادایم ها و فضای سازمان و مدیریت و تاثیر فناوری بر تغییر زندگی و کار در آینده را به تصویر می کشد
یکی از بهترین کتاب های مدیریتی تاریخ
با اینکه کتاب در سال 1991 چاپ شده ولی به شکل جالبی تغییر پارادایم ها و فضای سازمان و مدیریت و تاثیر فناوری بر تغییر زندگی و کار در آینده را به تصویر می کشد
یکی از بهترین کتاب های مدیریتی تاریخ
February 3, 2024
Cannot believe this is a book written more than 30 years ago. Many ideas still resonate today.
I'm not trying to judge how practical these ideas are, but they are still valuable insights.
I'm not trying to judge how practical these ideas are, but they are still valuable insights.
June 30, 2021
3.75 stars
May 19, 2015
A genuine classic by a man who was the "creme de la creme" of management gurus, relevant and insightful, and all the more prophetic given it was written some 25 years ago. Read this above, and probably instead of, any other management theory (with the possible execption of Jensens & Meckling´s "Theory of the firm")
February 6, 2016
اصول و روش تغییر و وجود ناپیوستگی در تغییر شاید یکی از عمیق ترین مسایلی است که نویسنده در این کتاب بررسی کرده است. برای هر کسی که با سازمان و مدیریت سر و کار دارد این کتاب را توصیه می کنم.
May 29, 2023
As a view of Business and Organisational futurology from the perspective of 1989, this is an interesting set of ideas and forty years later readers can reflect on how prescient they were.
At the heart of the book is the adage that Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world whilst unreasonable people adapt the world to themselves. The author’s view of the future is one of significant remodelling and changing of the world to fit human needs, so it is an unavoidable age of Unreason.
Chapter 2 gives an interesting statistical basis for the prognostications. In 1986 we hear that 43% of young people left UK schools without a single significant qualification. That outcome is unimaginable today so clearly something significant has indeed changed.
Another interesting statistic was the change in working hours. The author tells us that when he began his career, employees worked roughly 47 hours per week, for 47 weeks per year for 47 years. Now they work (roughly) 37 hours per week, for 37 weeks per year, for 37 years. 47 x 47 x 47 is roughly 100,000, whereas 37 x 37 x37 is roughly 50,000. So during the authors life, the average working span of an adult has halved. That is clearly a significant development, but what it means for the world of work was a little less clear.
Some of the author’s predictions were clearly very apposite, especially the transition to Ideas and Intellectual capital which he forecasts in Chapter 6. He suggests that 3I = AV, where the triple I is Intelligence, Information and Ideas and the AV is added value.
Some of the educational suggestions were imaginative but would involve significant reorganisation of the system and there wasn’t really a rationale for that specific kind of reorganisation. For example, yes schools could sub-contract aspects of their curriculum. A school could cease to employ Physics teachers, for example, and buy in all their Physics teaching from a Physics-Teacher-Agency. I could imagine that leading to better specialist teaching and even better availability of Physics teachers, but it would require government level intervention to effectively change the terms and conditions of the nations teachers. And why would a government want to wade into that kind of complexity?
Some of the other proposals seemed misfocused. For example, the author suggested that perhaps we should end Income taxes and just focus on expenditure taxes. Yes, there are arguments for doing so, but there is also a strong set of Psychological factors which the author did not consider. Loss Aversion is the bias whereby people will feel hard done by if they are given two coins, but one is taken away; whereas they will not feel hard done by if they are just given one coin to start with. Giving people a salary and then taking that money away is emotionally much harder for people than taking their taxes invisibly in taxation before they ever get their salary. Good ideas have got to meet the test of Psychological acceptability, especially in democracies where governments will be punished for failing to do so.
Another idea suggested by the author was paying people in time instead of money towards the end of their careers. He (righly) notes that people earn the most, after they have struggled through the years where they could have done with the higher salary (ie buying houses, etc). So perhaps wages should be restructured to that outcome, by paying time instead of money at the end of careers?
An interesting idea, but of course it already exists where people can work part time. The very definition of part time is having more time for oneself, and earning less to achieve it. There is nothing revolutionary in that idea, unless of course it is the suggestion that companies should be more flexible to allow it.
Overall, this was an interesting set of ideas but some of its more imaginative suggestions seemed to lack the deeper exploration that would be necessary before they could seem feasible enough to actively consider.
At the heart of the book is the adage that Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world whilst unreasonable people adapt the world to themselves. The author’s view of the future is one of significant remodelling and changing of the world to fit human needs, so it is an unavoidable age of Unreason.
Chapter 2 gives an interesting statistical basis for the prognostications. In 1986 we hear that 43% of young people left UK schools without a single significant qualification. That outcome is unimaginable today so clearly something significant has indeed changed.
Another interesting statistic was the change in working hours. The author tells us that when he began his career, employees worked roughly 47 hours per week, for 47 weeks per year for 47 years. Now they work (roughly) 37 hours per week, for 37 weeks per year, for 37 years. 47 x 47 x 47 is roughly 100,000, whereas 37 x 37 x37 is roughly 50,000. So during the authors life, the average working span of an adult has halved. That is clearly a significant development, but what it means for the world of work was a little less clear.
Some of the author’s predictions were clearly very apposite, especially the transition to Ideas and Intellectual capital which he forecasts in Chapter 6. He suggests that 3I = AV, where the triple I is Intelligence, Information and Ideas and the AV is added value.
Some of the educational suggestions were imaginative but would involve significant reorganisation of the system and there wasn’t really a rationale for that specific kind of reorganisation. For example, yes schools could sub-contract aspects of their curriculum. A school could cease to employ Physics teachers, for example, and buy in all their Physics teaching from a Physics-Teacher-Agency. I could imagine that leading to better specialist teaching and even better availability of Physics teachers, but it would require government level intervention to effectively change the terms and conditions of the nations teachers. And why would a government want to wade into that kind of complexity?
Some of the other proposals seemed misfocused. For example, the author suggested that perhaps we should end Income taxes and just focus on expenditure taxes. Yes, there are arguments for doing so, but there is also a strong set of Psychological factors which the author did not consider. Loss Aversion is the bias whereby people will feel hard done by if they are given two coins, but one is taken away; whereas they will not feel hard done by if they are just given one coin to start with. Giving people a salary and then taking that money away is emotionally much harder for people than taking their taxes invisibly in taxation before they ever get their salary. Good ideas have got to meet the test of Psychological acceptability, especially in democracies where governments will be punished for failing to do so.
Another idea suggested by the author was paying people in time instead of money towards the end of their careers. He (righly) notes that people earn the most, after they have struggled through the years where they could have done with the higher salary (ie buying houses, etc). So perhaps wages should be restructured to that outcome, by paying time instead of money at the end of careers?
An interesting idea, but of course it already exists where people can work part time. The very definition of part time is having more time for oneself, and earning less to achieve it. There is nothing revolutionary in that idea, unless of course it is the suggestion that companies should be more flexible to allow it.
Overall, this was an interesting set of ideas but some of its more imaginative suggestions seemed to lack the deeper exploration that would be necessary before they could seem feasible enough to actively consider.
December 15, 2023
I was given a copy of this book when it was first published over 30 years ago. It has laid unread on the bookshelf since then. Just recently, I decided to have a look at the book, to see what the Age of Unreason was all about. It was quite an interesting exercise.
To begin with, the book is about the changes that were coming our way in 1990. This was before the internet age, before e-mail, before smartphones. An age where most office communication was still typewritten, where the latest gadget was the fax machine, where four hour liquid lunches still had a place, and where meetings were still face-to-face. From the perspective of today, it seems like a world away. The task of the book, in the face of the profound changes that were evident even in those days, was to anticipate how the structure of the organisation might change to accommodate those profound changes.
In many ways, the author wasn't too far off the mark. He could see, even in that distant past, the trend towards organisations focussing on their core operations and outsourcing everything else. He didn't quite anticipate the degree to which this would spur on the process of globalisation because he largely assumed that the geopolitics of 1989 would remain the same. However, this is a minor quibble because he was broadly right about the direction of travel. Much of his anticipatory speculation has actually come to pass.
I found the book to be interesting as an historical artifact. It provides a glimpse of how the turn of the century might turn out and how we could go forward after that. Now that we are moving away from that world and into one of AI and automation, it is interesting to reflect that the challenge of the new world outlined in the book is now the comfortable world we are starting to leave behind.
The book was an enjoyable read. It introduced me to a few new concepts, such as the number of hours worked in a lifetime. It was a good speculation on how the past 30 years would turn out and it wasn't far from true in many cases. However, it is an historical artifact and should be remembered as such.
To begin with, the book is about the changes that were coming our way in 1990. This was before the internet age, before e-mail, before smartphones. An age where most office communication was still typewritten, where the latest gadget was the fax machine, where four hour liquid lunches still had a place, and where meetings were still face-to-face. From the perspective of today, it seems like a world away. The task of the book, in the face of the profound changes that were evident even in those days, was to anticipate how the structure of the organisation might change to accommodate those profound changes.
In many ways, the author wasn't too far off the mark. He could see, even in that distant past, the trend towards organisations focussing on their core operations and outsourcing everything else. He didn't quite anticipate the degree to which this would spur on the process of globalisation because he largely assumed that the geopolitics of 1989 would remain the same. However, this is a minor quibble because he was broadly right about the direction of travel. Much of his anticipatory speculation has actually come to pass.
I found the book to be interesting as an historical artifact. It provides a glimpse of how the turn of the century might turn out and how we could go forward after that. Now that we are moving away from that world and into one of AI and automation, it is interesting to reflect that the challenge of the new world outlined in the book is now the comfortable world we are starting to leave behind.
The book was an enjoyable read. It introduced me to a few new concepts, such as the number of hours worked in a lifetime. It was a good speculation on how the past 30 years would turn out and it wasn't far from true in many cases. However, it is an historical artifact and should be remembered as such.
January 7, 2024
Book #38 of 2022. "The Age of Unreason" by Charles Handy. 3/5 rating.
This book talks all about discontinuous change and its prevalence in the future.
The title is alluding to the fact that the future is going to require us to think in unreasonable ways in order to prosper. With changes in so many different aspects of business and life, we will need to become able to think in new and status-quo-breaking ways. Just because something has always been done one way, does not mean it is the best way forward. Discontinuous change is going to rule the future.
This book was copyrighted in 1989. One of the fun things about reading books about business and technology from that time period is to see how prescient they are in their predictions. Charles does a great job realizing some of the huge changes in work. He especially foresees telecommuting and the push for gig economies and less hierarchical and traditional businesses. As he says: "In the new organizations of the information society it is people who are the key assets".
This all-important realization of the shift to a knowledge economy highlights the idea that to properly prepare for the future, we will have to think of things in new ways.
There were some interesting ideas in this book, and it was cool to see someone predict some of today's trends. Apart from that, it is important to not be cordoned in by tradition and what has "always been done". But this is about the only real important takeaways. You can now skip reading the book.
This book talks all about discontinuous change and its prevalence in the future.
The title is alluding to the fact that the future is going to require us to think in unreasonable ways in order to prosper. With changes in so many different aspects of business and life, we will need to become able to think in new and status-quo-breaking ways. Just because something has always been done one way, does not mean it is the best way forward. Discontinuous change is going to rule the future.
This book was copyrighted in 1989. One of the fun things about reading books about business and technology from that time period is to see how prescient they are in their predictions. Charles does a great job realizing some of the huge changes in work. He especially foresees telecommuting and the push for gig economies and less hierarchical and traditional businesses. As he says: "In the new organizations of the information society it is people who are the key assets".
This all-important realization of the shift to a knowledge economy highlights the idea that to properly prepare for the future, we will have to think of things in new ways.
There were some interesting ideas in this book, and it was cool to see someone predict some of today's trends. Apart from that, it is important to not be cordoned in by tradition and what has "always been done". But this is about the only real important takeaways. You can now skip reading the book.
July 29, 2020
It is always interesting reading a book that has a future focus decades after it has been published. Opening this book in 2020 (it sat in my business book library for 20 years) and finally going through the pages was eye opening. He was clearly ahead of his time in some respects and had some very good insights regarding the evolution of work in America.
November 12, 2019
"He won't start to learn again until he is strong enough in his self-confidence to take success or failure in his stride." —Charles Handy.
I agreed with writer when he said that the future is inevitable. We can influence it, if we know what we want it to be.
I agreed with writer when he said that the future is inevitable. We can influence it, if we know what we want it to be.
February 19, 2020
آینده‌ا� که کتاب درباره‌ا� صحبت میکند� گذشته!
ترجمه� دلچسبی نداشت و به شخصه از یک‌ج� به بعد دیگر اهمیتی به گفته‌ها� کتاب نمی‌داد�.
ترجمه� دلچسبی نداشت و به شخصه از یک‌ج� به بعد دیگر اهمیتی به گفته‌ها� کتاب نمی‌داد�.
August 11, 2020
Das Konzept von Geldarbeit, Lernarbeit, Hausarbeit und Freiwilligemarbeit ist cool. der rest des buchs war lahm
November 2, 2022
Excelente.
June 17, 2015
"In an era when change is constant, random, and, as Handy calls it, discontinuous,"
Actually, my life is quite steady and contiguous with no real leaps and bounds into new dimensions. I live life from the inside out though, which means that so long as I can keep my inner eye fixed on God, the world could go to hell in a double-decker bus and I'd feel fine. Not that I particularly want to be tested on that you understand. Thanks.
"it is necessary to break out of old ways of thinking in order to use change to our advantage."
I'm always breaking out of my old way of thinking already thanks. Why just last week I changed to eating cheese made out of soya and coconuts (it needs salt and pepper but aside from that is tastes fine) and what could be more revolutionary to someone who has worshipped at the temple of dairy all his life than that?
"Handy examines how dramatic changes are transforming business, education, and the nature of work."
Oh boy. Work and education have been changing since forever and the more they change the more they seem to fall into the same routines. If someone had clued me in at school that I was allowed to read textbooks like I read novels and that I would have enjoyed them just as much, I would have been the person reading this review of my book instead of writing a review of someone else's book. I kid you not, when I did a Degree a few years back I was getting 100% in the assignments simply because I twigged that I could read the books and then read more books about the same subject and could simply enjoy doing that!
"We can see it in astounding new developments in technology, in the shift in demand from manual to cerebral skills, and in the virtual disappearance of lifelong, full-time jobs."
New developments in all these things are matter-of-course, not 'astounding'. I would be astounded if there were not new developments! My wife say 'hot!' when she burns her fingers on freshly cooked food, as if it is something surprising that applying heat to vegetables makes it hot. It would be much, much more surprising if applying heat to food makes it cold!!
"Handy maintains that discontinuous change requires discontinuous, upside-down thinking"
Well duh!
"and discusses the need for new kinds of organizations, new approaches to work, new types of schools, and new ideas about the nature of our society."
Really? It's funny that out of all the new things the author discussed the need for (back in 1989) only one has come about: everyone now has a 'cordless phone'.
#sigh
Actually, my life is quite steady and contiguous with no real leaps and bounds into new dimensions. I live life from the inside out though, which means that so long as I can keep my inner eye fixed on God, the world could go to hell in a double-decker bus and I'd feel fine. Not that I particularly want to be tested on that you understand. Thanks.
"it is necessary to break out of old ways of thinking in order to use change to our advantage."
I'm always breaking out of my old way of thinking already thanks. Why just last week I changed to eating cheese made out of soya and coconuts (it needs salt and pepper but aside from that is tastes fine) and what could be more revolutionary to someone who has worshipped at the temple of dairy all his life than that?
"Handy examines how dramatic changes are transforming business, education, and the nature of work."
Oh boy. Work and education have been changing since forever and the more they change the more they seem to fall into the same routines. If someone had clued me in at school that I was allowed to read textbooks like I read novels and that I would have enjoyed them just as much, I would have been the person reading this review of my book instead of writing a review of someone else's book. I kid you not, when I did a Degree a few years back I was getting 100% in the assignments simply because I twigged that I could read the books and then read more books about the same subject and could simply enjoy doing that!
"We can see it in astounding new developments in technology, in the shift in demand from manual to cerebral skills, and in the virtual disappearance of lifelong, full-time jobs."
New developments in all these things are matter-of-course, not 'astounding'. I would be astounded if there were not new developments! My wife say 'hot!' when she burns her fingers on freshly cooked food, as if it is something surprising that applying heat to vegetables makes it hot. It would be much, much more surprising if applying heat to food makes it cold!!
"Handy maintains that discontinuous change requires discontinuous, upside-down thinking"
Well duh!
"and discusses the need for new kinds of organizations, new approaches to work, new types of schools, and new ideas about the nature of our society."
Really? It's funny that out of all the new things the author discussed the need for (back in 1989) only one has come about: everyone now has a 'cordless phone'.
#sigh
August 8, 2012
The provocative ideas Sir Charles Handy puts forth in this modest book are taking shape all around us today. Outsourcing, partnerships, the pace of work, and “core competencies,� are explained in a context that now, in retrospect, makes a great deal of sense. For those who are curious about the systems in which they find themselves, Handy offers some legitimate insight. Conversationally-written, it is an engaging and thought-provoking book.
January 6, 2013
Such an inspiring book. I liked the way the author was able to forecast the direction in which businesses are moving . Handy makes it clear how the business and social trends of today are affecting each of us personally and professionally. His writing style is informative without being overbearing. Reading the book gives you a better understanding of the changes around us. Any businessman will definitely enjoy reading this book.
July 12, 2015
What I found most useful is that within a large organisation, some subunits may adopt a totally different form of organisational forms and are better not pressed into the umbrella "way of doing things". What Handy calls shamrock and Triple I have both high potential for this.
Original, but of lesser practical use, seem Handy's definitions of work.
Original, but of lesser practical use, seem Handy's definitions of work.
January 26, 2016
Excellent and very prescient book - particularly when you consider it has as much relevance today, if not more so, than when first written in 1989. Handy's corporate and life experience, and his futuristic thinking, combine to provide a roadmap for a new way of thinking in society, in corporations and in work life. His views on portfolio careers and retirement particularly resonated with me.
November 1, 2009
great great thoughts on the nature of organisations and how technology changes the structure of organisations, work, education and life.
Even more remarkable considering this book was written in 1989 while it's still very current.
Even more remarkable considering this book was written in 1989 while it's still very current.
March 1, 2010
Interesting book written a long time ago. Great to remind and see how the changes have played out. The internet wasn't around back then and this book shows how the world changes quickly. I like the idea of a life portfolio and the ideas about embracing upside thinking and change.
December 5, 2013
First chapter is great. Some of the organizational stuff and advice on adapting to the way technology will change our lives is both good advice for the general reader and prophetic for the time it was written. Parts of it are a little too convoluted and "self-helpy" for me to appreciate.
March 10, 2016
Handy was quite the visionary given this book was published in 1989. He had some great points that I will take with me and probably refer back to when the time calls for it. However, the language can be hard to follow. Very imitate thoughts in the written form.
February 10, 2008
I read this book as I started my Consulting career. It opened my mind to thinking of work and education in a different ways.
May 8, 2009
This book was included in my book: The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.
Want to read
January 9, 2012time 100
January 11, 2015
Great book as all books from professor Handy.
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