The Career Lattice: Combat Brain Drain, Improve Company Culture, and Attract Top Talent

by Joanne Cleaver

Reroute your career path for better, faster, longer-lasting success “If you’ve been waiting for your HR department to plan out your next career move, you’ll be stuck waiting forever. Joanne Cleaver explains why the career matrix is what you need to succeed. It’s valuable information that most HR departments aren’t ready or able to give you.”
―Suzanne Lucas, the Evil HR Lady, evilhrlady.org “ As Cleaver insightfully writes, the traditional career ladder is dead. To stay relevant, workers need to become nimble, enterprising, and far more professionally connected than their pre-recession counterparts. Essential reading for anyone who wants to stand out in today’s highly competitive business world.”
―Michelle Goodman, author of The Anti 9-to-5 Guide and My So-Called Freelance Life “In post-recessionary Corporate America, the ladder is becoming a thing of the past. You need to think of your career in a new way, a way in which you are constantly focused on acquiring new and honing existing skill sets to remain marketable and competitive. Using Joanne Cleaver’s Career Lattice’s prescription of group-centered coaching and mentoring, you’ll get by with a little help from your friends.”
―Alexandra Levit, author of Blind 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success OVER IS THE NEW UP. Thanks to the rise of global labor, increasing automation of job functions, and the flattening of workplace organizations, the traditional corporate ladder is gone―and we’ll probably never see it again. For smart, talented, motivated workers, this is the best career news to emerge in a long time. Instead of following the path of predetermined corporate hierarchies, you need to design a more flexible career path. It’s called the Career Lattice, and it’s about adding new skills to current abilities―while letting go of things that are no longer relevant. It’s about evolving. It’s about embracing change. In The Career Lattice , career consultant and business journalist Joanne Cleaver gives you the insight, information, tools, and best practices you need

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 22, 2012

Reviews

[Specialk · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's okay. If you see a copy laying about or happen to pass it at your library, sure. But don't go so far as to seek it out. Most people who would seek it out are likely familiar with all the concepts in here, although there are some interesting twists on a few: I'll be updating my resume master to more closely mimic their sample portfolio for instance, since I think it will be more efficient, and also help with interview prep instead of just resume building.

But the biggest downfall here is that of many books in the "how to be a better person in this very specific way" genre - there is not enough content to justify a full book. It's bulked up with anecdotes and stories. And repeats the same thing a lot. It does the interesting twist of taking the perspective from both an employee and an employer....but even that doesn't justify the full chapters from each that it devotes.

Second biggest downfall is their refusal to acknowledge that formal education is not a requirement for advancement. It sure doesn't hurt, but for a book that is trying to sell itself as helping anyone "lattice" (yeah, it's a noun-verb-adverb all throughout...I don't think it gets used as an adjective at least) from the absolute bottom of bottoms, to wherever they want to be....that first step ALWAYS becomes an associates or bachelors degree for them. Which isn't fair. There are a lot of other options. A lot of other options that might actually provide more opportunities for latticing, if I'm completely honest. So it feels a little underwhelming, when the answer is always "get a degree! Then you can go anywhere!" (Note: Kids, that doesn't mean you shouldn't go to school. Just make sure going to school is a good move for you.)

Just meh. Some gems in there...but mostly fluff. Alternate title suggestion: Bet you didn't know we could use the word lattice in 384 different ways!

[Lauren Conrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When an earthquake breaks up a highway, some people insist on fixing the road. Others see it as an opportunity to rethink the purpose of that highway." I needed to hear those words so badly.

I love the way this book shows appreciation for out-of-the-box thinkers. It allows people who want something outside the traditional nine-to-five to stop apologizing for seeing work in a different way. A great guidebook for all the freelancer contractors, digital nomads, and entrepreneurs out there.

[Jurgen Appelo · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems to me a career lattice is just multiple career ladders joined side-by-side. Nothing innovative about that. And the use of the word "lattice" as a verb ("latticing into a new position) got on my nerves.