Modern work key characteristics and their impact on people's values and feelings

For most of my professional life I've been working for a large global organization that, in my opinion, is an excellent example of today’s modern way of work. Themes like team work, collaboration, change, the upsides of taking risks, re-engineering, network-based organization, flexibility, short-term results, etc. are all very familiar to me. I in fact live surrounded by constant positive messages about them and about how important they are for all of us to succeed in our jobs.

A few weeks ago I came across a book that, like so many others in my house, has been sitting idle on a shelf for years: TheCorrosion of Character by Richard Sennet. This book was published in 1998 and when I started reading it I though “maybe after all these years whatever I find here is going to be outdated”. Well, I was wrong.

What I’ve liked most about the book is that it gives context and structure to these themes of modern work I’m so familiar with. He is however not so optimistic about them…through numerous examples or real life situations and personal interviews he explains the downside of modern work characteristics and their negative effects on people’s values, people’s sense of achievement (or, even more, failure) or people’s commitment.

Sennet’s book is not overly optimistic. I really want to think that many organizations, like the one I work for, do make a genuine effort to avoid or minimize some of the risks he points out. After reading the book, though, I can more clearly see organizations and individuals alike have a great challenge ahead to balance mutual needs and overcome the issues and the risks of today’s ever changing work’s demands.

Summer Reads

Summer vacation is a wonderful time to spend discovering new places, doing a little exercise and resting from it with some entertaining book in my hands. And this is pretty much how I spent it this year.

I began this year with a few novels written in my mother tongue, usually this means I can read more, faster and effortlessly. Not this time though. After the third book, that - ironically - I had found somewhat violent, I decided to switch gears and try something different: a crime fiction novel.

“The Bat” is the first of Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole series. I picked the book on impulse, without knowing anything about it or its author. Harry Hole is a somewhat unorthodox and alcoholic police officer that, of course, resolves the crime and makes the murderer pay for it.

Jo Nesbo is an Scandinavian author. One reason I picked his book is that I made a mental association between him and another Scandinavian that became extremely popular around 2005 with his Millennium Trilogy (Stieg Larsson). Strangely enough, I enjoyed Lisbeth Salander’s stories very much (so much for non-violence!). A pity Mr. Larsson did not live to enjoy his success.

Mr. Nesbo has lived to enjoy his success though and has continued to work to extend it further. "The Bat" is an entertaining story, plenty of very troubled characters that have to live with themselves every day and do so with different degrees of success. I guess this is definitely an ingredient that helps readers to connect with the book and the characters. Yet, I’m still not sure why the Harry Hole’s series (more than ten novels, I believe) have become as popular as it seems they have: maybe I should pick up another one soon and see what other cases await for Harry to resolve.