Charles Brian Handy

1 volume : 24 cm

"Living with paradox is like riding a seesaw. If you know how the process works, and if the person at the other end also knows, the ride can be exhilarating. If, however, your opposite number does not understand, or willfully upsets the pattern, you can receive a very uncomfortable and unexpected shock.". As it is with seesaws, so it is with life. We live and work in an age of numbingly rapid change. If we are to cope with the turbulence of today, we must start by organizing it in our minds. Until we do, we will feel impotent, victims of events beyond our control or even our capacity to understand. As Charles Handy so eloquently explains, framing the confusion is the first step to doing something about it. In The Age of Paradox, one of the most brilliant and engaging thinkers of our day extends a guiding hand in the search for such a framework. In a book born of the compelling need to manage our lives in a sounder and more satisfying fashion, Handy ranges widely over business, family, education, citizenship, money, relationships, and myriad other subjects that touch the very core of our search for meaning. In 1989, Charles Handy's groundbreaking The Age of Unreason documented new developments in technology, global economics, and the intensifying pursuit of efficiency - and their impact on our organizations, careers, and lifestyles. Declared one of the best books of the year by Fortune and Business Week, The Age of Unreason offered profound observations about the world in which we live. Now, in this striking sequel, Handy proposes bold ideas for how individuals and organizations can navigate their way through this brave new world. Change is occurring more rapidly than ever, challenging the assumptions and traditions of previous decades. Fewer full-time positions create more flexibility - but put the responsibility on us to create job opportunities. The end of lifelong careers gives us the freedom to explore new organizations and industries - but provides us with less security and comfort. Knowledge as a commodity to be sold offers the possibility of a more egalitarian society - yet highlights the fact that few have access to good education. It is these unintended consequences of change - the paradoxes - that Handy confronts in The Age of Paradox. He argues that although the paradoxes of modern times cannot be solved, they can be managed. "There are pathways through the paradoxes if we can understand what is happening and are prepared to act differently." He shows us how we can accept and exploit the fuller responsibilities that today's workplace imposes; maintain our sense of continuity, connection, and direction; and balance our personal and professional commitments. In the same compelling style that captivated readers of The Age of Unreason, Handy describes the pathways to tomorrow.

Organizations are a part of everyday life, whether in schools, hospitals, police stations or commercial companies. In this classics text, Charles Handy argues that the key to successful organizations lies in a better understanding of the needs and motivations of the people within them. Understanding Organizations offers an extended 'dictionary' of the key concepts — culture, motivations, leadership, role-playing, co-ordinating and consultation — and then shows how this 'language' can help us find new solutions to familiar problems. Few management writers have been as consistently challenging and influential as Charles Handy. Firmly established as one of the core business texts, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in organizations and how to make them work better.

Charles Handy is Britain's only world-class management guru.' DirectorThis latest offering is a joy to read. It is one of those rare things, a book by a management author that you want to devour at one sitting.' Ambassador'Its eclectic style makes it extremely enjoyable to read.' The Irish Times'He has that rare gift among business writers - able to talk sense and leave out the jargon - This title will appeal to a very wide audience, because it is everything a business book should be - very readable and thought provoking.' Business and Computer BooksellerCharles Handy's best-selling new book looks at how individuals (the fleas in his analogy) relate to multi-national conglomerates (the elephants). In addition to addressing how and why we work today, he covers a wide range of preoccupations and issues including the increasing fear of big business: 'it is easy to see why many observers think that the big corporations are now both richer and more powerful than many nation states. They worry that these new corporate states are accountable to no-one - that their financial clout makes governments beholden to them... The elephants, people feel, are out of control.'

With his characteristically very personal anecdotal style, Charles Handy analyses how materialistic caoitalism is self-limiting, how efficiency may be the enemy of a cohesive society, and examines the false certainties of science and religionWith his characteristically very personal anecdotal style, Charles Handy analyses how materialistic caoitalism is self-limiting, how efficiency may be the enemy of a cohesive society, and examines the false certainties of science and religion. He then builds a new theory of meaning, based on the research for identity the role of the arts and the idea of immortality. Unconvent-ional organisation is his model for business and the individual, requiring new learning systems for a better future.