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The Work Revolution: Freedom and Excellence for All
Embrace connectivity, increase empowerment, and achieve better work-life blendingWe live in a new age of global companies, hyper-access to information, and accessibility to tools that enable us to bring any idea life. Strangely, our workplaces are lagging behind the promise of this open and collaborative world. Most organizations are rule-based, top-down, dreary environments optimized for conformity and little else. "The Work Revolution" creates a compelling portrait of a different kind of work.
""I believe that freedom in the workplace is worth fighting for and that every person and every organization can be excellent.""
Julie Clow articulates the rules we follow today in our work force, the reasons they no longer work, and what we can do instead. "The Work Revolution" deconstructs the magic behind thriving, liberated organizations (such as Google) into clear principles that any individual, leader, and organization can adopt to create sustainable and engaging lives.Provides actionable changes anyone can make, regardless of where they work, to create a more sustainable work-life blendDetails concrete ways to influence existing organizations to changeGuides leaders to make tangible changes in their teams to enable greater autonomy and impactOutlines organizational culture principles that support and nurture high-performance and healthy environments, providing clear options for instituting cultural change based on specific organizational challenges
Rejecting productivity Band-Aids and quick fixes, "The Work Revolution" conceptualizes a completely new workplace that embraces the always-connected reality to create organizations in which high achievers can sustainably thrive.
""I believe that freedom in the workplace is worth fighting for and that every person and every organization can be excellent.""
Julie Clow articulates the rules we follow today in our work force, the reasons they no longer work, and what we can do instead. "The Work Revolution" deconstructs the magic behind thriving, liberated organizations (such as Google) into clear principles that any individual, leader, and organization can adopt to create sustainable and engaging lives.Provides actionable changes anyone can make, regardless of where they work, to create a more sustainable work-life blendDetails concrete ways to influence existing organizations to changeGuides leaders to make tangible changes in their teams to enable greater autonomy and impactOutlines organizational culture principles that support and nurture high-performance and healthy environments, providing clear options for instituting cultural change based on specific organizational challenges
Rejecting productivity Band-Aids and quick fixes, "The Work Revolution" conceptualizes a completely new workplace that embraces the always-connected reality to create organizations in which high achievers can sustainably thrive.
254 pages, Hardcover
First published March 27, 2012
6 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Julie Clow
2 books5 followersAll my life, I loved learning and school, so I followed an academic path and earned my Ph.D. in behavior analysis in 2000. I spent the first eight years of my career dutifully working in traditional corporate environments developing training programs and implementing organizational initiatives for various clients. Then, I joined Google in 2006 and everything changed. During my initial transition to Google, I felt the magic of freedom and autonomy at work, which inspired me to ask: if Google can create this environment, why can't everyone else? Thus, The Work Revolution was born.
I spent five years at Google focusing on team effectiveness, leadership, and organizational culture, primarily for engineers. I currently serve as the head of learning and development for an awesome, nontraditional mid-size investment management company in New York, NY, also chockful of software engineers and research scientists.You can frequently find me speaking at industry events and conferences. Connect with me on Twitter at @clowjul.
I spent five years at Google focusing on team effectiveness, leadership, and organizational culture, primarily for engineers. I currently serve as the head of learning and development for an awesome, nontraditional mid-size investment management company in New York, NY, also chockful of software engineers and research scientists.You can frequently find me speaking at industry events and conferences. Connect with me on Twitter at @clowjul.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 25, 2015
I received this book for free from the GoodReads first reads program in exchange for an honest review.
The Work Revolution is a solid guide to changes that could be made to make any organization better. The book is divided into 9 chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of what is hindering every job from being as rewarding as working at, say, Google or Zappos. Julie Clow is systemic in her approach to describing what makes jobs rewarding and what makes them chores, and how to initiate big changes that would allow work to feel more like play and involve more flow.
This would be a valuable guide to any business, and the appendix at the back adequately summarizes the big ideas present in the book for a briefer more succinct study. While dry reading to a lay reader, I'm certain to someone looking to revamp their business this would be a truly fascinating read.
Well written, well researched, and altogether quite convincing.
The Work Revolution is a solid guide to changes that could be made to make any organization better. The book is divided into 9 chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of what is hindering every job from being as rewarding as working at, say, Google or Zappos. Julie Clow is systemic in her approach to describing what makes jobs rewarding and what makes them chores, and how to initiate big changes that would allow work to feel more like play and involve more flow.
This would be a valuable guide to any business, and the appendix at the back adequately summarizes the big ideas present in the book for a briefer more succinct study. While dry reading to a lay reader, I'm certain to someone looking to revamp their business this would be a truly fascinating read.
Well written, well researched, and altogether quite convincing.
May 6, 2012
Finally, something different. Clow takes a good look at work, as most of us know it, and claims it's broken. But, instead of saying it's time to run from work and do your own thing, she thinks it's time for a revolution from within to change the way we work, and the way the companies that we work for work.
June 24, 2023
It's an entire book about how awesome working remotely is. At least 4 stars by default because it confirms my bias :)
July 28, 2012
"Freedom and excellence for all." A bold subtitle, and Julie Clow delivers. Many authors can point out the brokenness of dysfunctional, or semi-functional, limping along organizations. What sets her apart is that she accurately spots what's broken and has actually lived/worked in a real organization - in addition to referring to others - that is passionate about continually being great at getting it right.
She has a very fresh voice in her writing, and she uses it engagingly.
She mixes assessment and response effectively. She gives suggestions for approaching the key points that are keeping an organization from being truly free and excellent, and does so in a step by step manner. For some, knowing how to spot the flaws is everything; for others, knowing how to effectively respond to the flaws is key. She does both, in a graceful, highly readable manner - and does it all with genuine hope and purpose.
She does an exceptional job of communicating the big necessities of a true Work Revolution:
- Impact, not activities
- Energy, not schedules
- Strengths, not job slots
- The right things, not everything
- Grassroots, not top-down
The revolution is empowered by those keys: impact, energy, strengths, the right thing, and grassroots. The failed/failing status quo is empowered by the opposite: activities, schedules, job slots, everything and top-down.
Read this book with a highlighter and a pen. You will want to come back again and go deeper, and you will want to share this with others who still have hope for doing great work.
There is a conclusion chapter, in which she talks about the biggest fears that organizations and individuals can have that will keep this from happening in them, and through them.
In the epilogue, she delineates each of the keys through the process she lived out in writing this book.
She even writes the most thorough and helpful appendix I've come across. Every key is laid out in note form, the key charts are reproduced, and the resources - books and articles that go with each chapter's keys - are all there.
There are things that I am putting into play immediately. There are other things that I have already put into play, and this book provided some affirmation to me that I had gone without for a very long time.
My final thoughts on this book, in three words: This. Will. Work. (And three more, for free: Viva la revolucion!)
-----
When I first bought it: I picked this up on my wife's recommendation, after she heard the author being interviewed on the radio. I have flipped through it, and I'm looking forward to reading it and seeing how much I can put into play!
She has a very fresh voice in her writing, and she uses it engagingly.
She mixes assessment and response effectively. She gives suggestions for approaching the key points that are keeping an organization from being truly free and excellent, and does so in a step by step manner. For some, knowing how to spot the flaws is everything; for others, knowing how to effectively respond to the flaws is key. She does both, in a graceful, highly readable manner - and does it all with genuine hope and purpose.
She does an exceptional job of communicating the big necessities of a true Work Revolution:
- Impact, not activities
- Energy, not schedules
- Strengths, not job slots
- The right things, not everything
- Grassroots, not top-down
The revolution is empowered by those keys: impact, energy, strengths, the right thing, and grassroots. The failed/failing status quo is empowered by the opposite: activities, schedules, job slots, everything and top-down.
Read this book with a highlighter and a pen. You will want to come back again and go deeper, and you will want to share this with others who still have hope for doing great work.
There is a conclusion chapter, in which she talks about the biggest fears that organizations and individuals can have that will keep this from happening in them, and through them.
In the epilogue, she delineates each of the keys through the process she lived out in writing this book.
She even writes the most thorough and helpful appendix I've come across. Every key is laid out in note form, the key charts are reproduced, and the resources - books and articles that go with each chapter's keys - are all there.
There are things that I am putting into play immediately. There are other things that I have already put into play, and this book provided some affirmation to me that I had gone without for a very long time.
My final thoughts on this book, in three words: This. Will. Work. (And three more, for free: Viva la revolucion!)
-----
When I first bought it: I picked this up on my wife's recommendation, after she heard the author being interviewed on the radio. I have flipped through it, and I'm looking forward to reading it and seeing how much I can put into play!
August 10, 2012
When I first picked it up, I was a bit skeptical – thinking what could I possibly do to start a work revolution (Occupy Wall Street just isn’t my style)… I just left a company because I realized how hard it actually is to do that, even being in a Human Resources role. Until I reached page four, yes four, when Julie presented her Work Revolution Manifesto starting with: “I believe it is possible to love your work, your workplace, and those you work with.” I was immediately hooked – of course it’s possible I thought, but I wanted to find out HOW.
Julie goes on to describe the current state of many traditional companies, you know – the ones we all refer to as the big bad corporate jobs, and contrast them with the way people actually want to work; tackling the old rules and fears, with The New Rules (p. 57). Every chapter outlines exactly what each individual, people leader and company can do right now, to shift the work place into one that fits the needs of who we are as employees today. Some suggestions are easy changes, and others more difficult from a culture shift perspective, but all were applicable, scalable, impactful, and still productive from the company’s perspective.
Here are a few of my favorite highlights from the book, one from each of her action steps:
“Start focusing on results” (p. 57)
“Our focus on time serves as a crutch” (p. 95)
“Rather than using job tasks as a starting point, start with the people” (p. 127)
“Choosing to spend our time on the right things, not everything” (p. 159)
“Smaller is better, and imperfection is simply part of the process” (p. 183)
Julie goes on to describe the current state of many traditional companies, you know – the ones we all refer to as the big bad corporate jobs, and contrast them with the way people actually want to work; tackling the old rules and fears, with The New Rules (p. 57). Every chapter outlines exactly what each individual, people leader and company can do right now, to shift the work place into one that fits the needs of who we are as employees today. Some suggestions are easy changes, and others more difficult from a culture shift perspective, but all were applicable, scalable, impactful, and still productive from the company’s perspective.
Here are a few of my favorite highlights from the book, one from each of her action steps:
“Start focusing on results” (p. 57)
“Our focus on time serves as a crutch” (p. 95)
“Rather than using job tasks as a starting point, start with the people” (p. 127)
“Choosing to spend our time on the right things, not everything” (p. 159)
“Smaller is better, and imperfection is simply part of the process” (p. 183)
September 7, 2012
I'm biased since Julie happens to be my roommate and best friend, but that doesn't mean she should be left out of GoodReads! Here's my previous review from Amazon:
Not every company can be like Google, nor should they try to be. But what they CAN do is create a thriving, creative, insanely productive environment that honors their employees' gifts rather than treating them like children. Clow takes an incredibly sharp, funny, well-reseearched approach to revolutionizing the office environment.
Clow is not afraid to tell it like it is: "Leadership classes are chockfull of information so fluffy it might as well be coming from horoscopes." Rather than settle for mediocrity, even in a large organization that may be resistant to change, Clow suggests instead that, "Even if you can't knock down the inflexible pillars of organizational bureaucracy, you can stake tiny little tents of initiative and plant grassroots ideas throughout the organization."
With a background in organizational development, a Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis, and extensive experience in Learning & Development at Google, Clow articulates the following compelling new rules for the work place:
1. Impact, Not Activities
2. Energy, Not Schedules
3. Strengths, Not Job Slots
4. The Right Things, Not Everything
5. Grassroots, Not Top Down
This book is a must-read for people at all levels of all organizations, and it's language will surely provide a new way for us to talk about what really matters -- whether you run a company of 1, 100 or 100,000.
Not every company can be like Google, nor should they try to be. But what they CAN do is create a thriving, creative, insanely productive environment that honors their employees' gifts rather than treating them like children. Clow takes an incredibly sharp, funny, well-reseearched approach to revolutionizing the office environment.
Clow is not afraid to tell it like it is: "Leadership classes are chockfull of information so fluffy it might as well be coming from horoscopes." Rather than settle for mediocrity, even in a large organization that may be resistant to change, Clow suggests instead that, "Even if you can't knock down the inflexible pillars of organizational bureaucracy, you can stake tiny little tents of initiative and plant grassroots ideas throughout the organization."
With a background in organizational development, a Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis, and extensive experience in Learning & Development at Google, Clow articulates the following compelling new rules for the work place:
1. Impact, Not Activities
2. Energy, Not Schedules
3. Strengths, Not Job Slots
4. The Right Things, Not Everything
5. Grassroots, Not Top Down
This book is a must-read for people at all levels of all organizations, and it's language will surely provide a new way for us to talk about what really matters -- whether you run a company of 1, 100 or 100,000.
May 16, 2013
This is a MUST READ for anyone interested in bettering the workplace. How we work is going to change dramatically in the next 10 years. Julie has begun to lay a roadmap for what that will look like. I can't recommend her book enough.
dearly-departed
March 13, 2014Won as part of the Goodreads first reads program. Review to come.
October 6, 2012
A how-to book for managing your energy, attitude and behavior in the corporate world to be more productive and fulfilled.
May 27, 2014
Work Revolution proves that there's a lot of work to be done in the workplace. And the truth is it's possible; companies and the employees are in the winning team. Revolution breeds evolution.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews