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Culture Shock: An unstoppable force is changing how we work and live. Gallup's solution to the biggest leadership issue of our time.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused an awakening that shocked the world — a structural change in how and where people work and live. One thing we now know for Nothing is going back to normal.
How organizations adapt to this culture shock will determine whether they thrive or even survive and whether U.S. and global productivity will go up or down.
The immediate danger is that most employees will now operate more like independent contractors or gig workers than employees who are loyal and committed to your organization. The risk grows as your workforce’s mentality continues to shift from my life at work to my life at home. It may become nearly impossible to create a culture of committed team members and powerful relationships at work.
Leaders continue to wrestle with the issue of how to bring employees back to the office. But the far greater issue is deteriorating customer relationships, which is already happening. Simply put, your employees and your customers know each other. Many are best friends. How will you maintain your customers’ commitment when you’re struggling to create a culture of dedicated employees who build and strengthen relationships with those customers?
It’s clear now that an unstoppable force has changed how we work and live. Culture Shock offers a solution that outlines a better world of work and life — one with far higher productivity, greater customer retention and better wellbeing. It’s Gallup’s solution to the biggest leadership issue of our time.
How organizations adapt to this culture shock will determine whether they thrive or even survive and whether U.S. and global productivity will go up or down.
The immediate danger is that most employees will now operate more like independent contractors or gig workers than employees who are loyal and committed to your organization. The risk grows as your workforce’s mentality continues to shift from my life at work to my life at home. It may become nearly impossible to create a culture of committed team members and powerful relationships at work.
Leaders continue to wrestle with the issue of how to bring employees back to the office. But the far greater issue is deteriorating customer relationships, which is already happening. Simply put, your employees and your customers know each other. Many are best friends. How will you maintain your customers’ commitment when you’re struggling to create a culture of dedicated employees who build and strengthen relationships with those customers?
It’s clear now that an unstoppable force has changed how we work and live. Culture Shock offers a solution that outlines a better world of work and life — one with far higher productivity, greater customer retention and better wellbeing. It’s Gallup’s solution to the biggest leadership issue of our time.
407 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 26, 2023
24 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 29, 2024
As someone who works in HR and in L&D, the content wasn’t surprising or new. For people-leaders, this book provides a concise and easy to digest glimpse into a new era of work.
March 20, 2024
Meh. Could have been an article. Regurgitation of their other work with little new information.
June 24, 2025
It dragged on and was repetitive. Could have been an article . Basically we knew all of this and experienced it so i didn’t learn any new information.
September 18, 2023
Not sure why I purchased this when it's displayed at discount section at an bookstore? Hurriedly read about the book online and I purchased this. I could've better discount for this online if'd checked properly and if'd done that I'd skipped reading this entirely.
Once I started reading then I liked its contents though. The book is for leaders/managers to embrace the new culture of remote working post-Covid19 outbreak induced pandemic worldwide lock-downs as a choice and how to manage the teams to achieve consistent results in productivity and increase revenues.
The chapters section deals with these in easy-to-read format. That section is quick read and you may able to read it in one go.
The appendix section is actually more detailed and hard to read if you're afraid of numbers. Also the section felt repetitive with same kind of explanation of what the next tables says. And tables are not to easy to comprehend if one is not good at mathematics and statistics, I feel. Lot of numbers thrown around representative of Gallup's survey results.
The book feels like marketing tool for other Gallup products especially aimed at managers. Chapters section had few hints of marketing. Appendix section lot of different products like Q12 survey(Check page 30-31 for quick summary). I just skimmed through this entire section to see if I can easily comprehend something. But no. Understanding this section needs thorough reading.
The book is mentioned as having 336 pages here and other online sites, which looks like an error. I got hardcover version, probably only version for this book, containing only 304 pages. Therefore I used percentages to record progress of this book. Many blank pages(50+) on this book, especially on chapters section, and therefore you can quickly read that section as it's barely 110 pages if blank pages are skipped.
Nice reading for chapter section but not so great on appendix section. Therefore, 3 stars. Book would be good breakthrough if many managers read this and adopt. But I see the big multi-national companies are reversing the trend for no good reasons. Remote working should be choice and should be part of workplace diversity. It helps the employees to be with family and avoid deserting old age parents while shifting to different city. However, most corporates are not humane of all these genuine concerns. They still see it's ultra-special privilege that can be given to only very few(almost none of the) employees. And I don't see this book as good at convincing managers/CEOs apart from few mentions of benefits of mix of onsite and remote workers.
Once I started reading then I liked its contents though. The book is for leaders/managers to embrace the new culture of remote working post-Covid19 outbreak induced pandemic worldwide lock-downs as a choice and how to manage the teams to achieve consistent results in productivity and increase revenues.
The chapters section deals with these in easy-to-read format. That section is quick read and you may able to read it in one go.
The appendix section is actually more detailed and hard to read if you're afraid of numbers. Also the section felt repetitive with same kind of explanation of what the next tables says. And tables are not to easy to comprehend if one is not good at mathematics and statistics, I feel. Lot of numbers thrown around representative of Gallup's survey results.
The book feels like marketing tool for other Gallup products especially aimed at managers. Chapters section had few hints of marketing. Appendix section lot of different products like Q12 survey(Check page 30-31 for quick summary). I just skimmed through this entire section to see if I can easily comprehend something. But no. Understanding this section needs thorough reading.
The book is mentioned as having 336 pages here and other online sites, which looks like an error. I got hardcover version, probably only version for this book, containing only 304 pages. Therefore I used percentages to record progress of this book. Many blank pages(50+) on this book, especially on chapters section, and therefore you can quickly read that section as it's barely 110 pages if blank pages are skipped.
Nice reading for chapter section but not so great on appendix section. Therefore, 3 stars. Book would be good breakthrough if many managers read this and adopt. But I see the big multi-national companies are reversing the trend for no good reasons. Remote working should be choice and should be part of workplace diversity. It helps the employees to be with family and avoid deserting old age parents while shifting to different city. However, most corporates are not humane of all these genuine concerns. They still see it's ultra-special privilege that can be given to only very few(almost none of the) employees. And I don't see this book as good at convincing managers/CEOs apart from few mentions of benefits of mix of onsite and remote workers.
August 9, 2023
I was hoping this would be more enlightening. Almost 1/2 the book is an appendix. It was interesting to see some of the statistics but I feel like they could have summarized the whole book in one chapter.
January 10, 2024
If you're a regular consumer of Gallup leadership articles, this as an updated curation of research on why it's important, particularly in a post pandemic world, to develop your leaders AND design new workflows that leverage lessons learned.
The book provides good US and Global research addressing important post pandemic realities I think are not getting the attention they deserve. For that reason, it's an important read and ripe for discussion.
Spoiler alert: part of Gallup's solution does include utilization of their services. (Sorry, it's the cynic in me.)
On the other hand, I'm a big advocate of Gallup's Strengths Based Leadership insights and value them being updated for current realities.
The book provides good US and Global research addressing important post pandemic realities I think are not getting the attention they deserve. For that reason, it's an important read and ripe for discussion.
Spoiler alert: part of Gallup's solution does include utilization of their services. (Sorry, it's the cynic in me.)
On the other hand, I'm a big advocate of Gallup's Strengths Based Leadership insights and value them being updated for current realities.
March 13, 2024
I read this book as part of a leadership bookclub.
Eh. If you are familiar with Clifton Strengths/Strength Finder, Strenths 2.0 - much of the book is circling around and repetitive of the same basic concepts and ideas. If you have a strength-based organization and really value this concept, this will be a reinforcement. If you are new to strength based organizational cultures/employee engagement - probably great food for thought.
It does speak to a remote/hybrid workforce and organizational change coming from the pandemic which could be helpful for leaders/managers to engage in continuous improvement intitiatives.
Not a lot here for me for my Organizational Development/Change Management role.
Eh. If you are familiar with Clifton Strengths/Strength Finder, Strenths 2.0 - much of the book is circling around and repetitive of the same basic concepts and ideas. If you have a strength-based organization and really value this concept, this will be a reinforcement. If you are new to strength based organizational cultures/employee engagement - probably great food for thought.
It does speak to a remote/hybrid workforce and organizational change coming from the pandemic which could be helpful for leaders/managers to engage in continuous improvement intitiatives.
Not a lot here for me for my Organizational Development/Change Management role.
August 27, 2023
Gallup delivers on a quick read with relatable and practical management practices backed by solid data. One third of the book is them showing their work in appendices. The book confirms what good managers already know, however Gallup made it a fast read with "apply tomorrow" practices for those people leaders who are not avid readers. Also, a very useful book for a new People Leader who wants to start off on the right foot.
July 30, 2023
This quick read by Clifton and Harter is pretty good. It has lots of data driver insights that are good reminders to most leaders and managers and a few new insights into our post-pandemic work. I'd recommend it given it's concise and full of supported recommendations for improving the culture and performance of organizations.
December 30, 2023
Very quick read! The first half of the book contains more updated, relevant information about the current world of work, cultural shifts and employee expectations. The second half, while good, was similar to other existing books like Clifton StrengthsFinder and, in my view, had too much emphasis on promoting Gallup's tools/resources.
June 7, 2024
Has some great data points to support investing in actually preparing managers to manage as well as how it impacts customer satisfaction. But then depends on your implementing strength finders and other Clifton systems.
January 24, 2024
Not exactly what I expected, but yet a good read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews