The Reset: Ideas to Change How We Work and Live

by Elizabeth Uviebinené, Elizabeth Uviebinené

Some people seek purpose in work. Others see work as a tool to live with purpose outside of work. Where do you sit on this scale?'An exciting, refreshing, curious read which addresses not just the future of work but how to fundamentally rethink the way we live' -EMMA GANNON, author of The Sunday Times bestseller The Multi-Hyphen Method"At a time when many of us are reconsidering our work/life balance in the long-term, it's an illuminating read." - Cosmopolitan"The Reset is a provocative guide to how we fit into an ecosystem' - The Financial Times"Uviebinené's passion about resetting how we live and work is infectious and eye-opening." - Marie Claire"This book made me stop and rethink my relationship with work. Elizabeth challenges us all to create a new social contract with trust, purpose and community at its heart. Where we work by design and not by default and in doing so, create a world of work that is more balanced, inclusive and better for everyone." - Helen Tupper, CEO of Amazing If and co-author of The Squiggly Careers________________Being busy isn't an IdentityPerks aren't office CultureProfit isn't all we want from BusinessLoneliness shouldn't happen in a CommunityInequality isn't inevitable in a CityWe can all shape Society From the award-winning author and Financial Times columnist Elizabeth Uviebinené, a fundamental rethink of how we work and live. Because if we're going to really benefit from the radical shift of 2020, we have to rethink how we fit into an ecosystem. Elizabeth started with a simple desire to explore our relationship with work, and how it was impacting our lives. It became clear if we want to reset how we work as individuals, we're going to need to reset the work culture we exist in, the businesses we work for, the communities we're a part of, the cities we live in and the society we can shape. We can't just rethink one strand of society; we need to rethink everything together. It's time for a Reset. The Reset is a short, digestible book for people who want to work better, and live better. Elizabeth addresses our urge to work differently, to work in a way that suits more parts of our lives. It's optimistic, positive and provocative, offering fresh perspectives on the way we live now, and a punchy idea for how we might live in the future. So what's possible now that would have seemed impossible before? The Reset features interviews Sadiq Khan, Mayor of LondonAlex Mahon, CEO of Channel 4Ete Davies, CEO of Engine GroupRachel Botsman, Oxford University's first Trust fellowSereena Abassi, Worldwide Head of Culture and Inclusion, M&C SaatchiAnna Whitehouse (Mother Pukka), flexible working campaignerCassandra Stavrou, Founder of ProperIndy Johar, Founder of think tank Dark Matter LabsNadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Self Help

187 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 29, 2021

Reviews

[Louise Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I thought this book was going to be a bit more practical than it is. It offers some really interesting food for thought about what our work, cities and communities could look like, but I had hoped for something that I could put into practice. There was a bit of that, just not as much as I thought there might be.

[Simran · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrative framing of the this book is the COVID pandemic and how it's forced everyone to rethink work. This wasn't clear to me when choosing the book and I think important to know going into it. Though a well written and thought-out read, I don't think I was the target audience for this book and as such it fell a bit short of my expectations. This is perhaps due to the fact that I work at an organisation that already does a lot of what was suggested here, and as an individual I hold a lot of the more progressive views shared (though to some extent, not that progressive at all). I was hoping for more novel ideas on how to make and lead this change, whereas this book is more about asking questions, getting individuals to start thinking about what they want from their lives.

This book is far more suited to those trapped in corporate megastructures or general capitalist hellholes. If you are finding yourself beholden to your job and getting no satisfied from your work, this manifesto challenges long held beliefs about how you relate to your work and how your work relates to the world, and how everyone can do better. Would defo rate this higher if I didn't already know and believe in a what was shared.

[Naïma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this.

The most substantive and thought-provoking thing I’ve read about the future of work. Elizabeth Uviebinené emphasises that since work changed along with pandemic, which merely accelerated changes that were already underway, we’ve barely skimmed the surface of what the changing nature of work means for our lives. Instead of thinking about how work has changed, we need to think about why. This time represents a very unique opportunity to redesign and reimagine our work lives.

Uviebinené manages to beautifully articulate fragments of thoughts I’ve been having over the last few months. I really resonated with Uviebinené’s chapter on community in a time of remote working and how cities need to change to accommodate the increasing time we spend at home.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I flew through this book. Some really interesting concepts in a post covid world and I liked how it built up from the individual to society. Particularly liked the idea how benefits packages aren’t a corporate culture, the 15 minute city and how we actually haven’t gained a new work culture post covid - it’s just the same burnout but you’re at home. My only criticism was that it felt a little conversational and I would have liked more data but I appreciate that’s a personal preference. Gave me a lot to think about.

[Fiqar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Future of Work is a term that gets thrown out a lot these days and many of us do not even have a clue of what the term means. The Reset seeks to provide provocative and optimistic ideas as to how we approach this overused term. Through The Reset, Elizabeth takes us on a journey of understanding how 5 important spectrums of life could redefine our ways of working and living.

Elizabeth took a great example about how pathetic it is that it had to take a global health pandemic for us to actually reset the way we work. But that is a wake-up call that we all need. Now, we understand that for us to make a significant change, it has to come from a collective effort. So for us to bring about more changes in the future, everyone has to join forces and work together towards reaching that common goal.

The Reset invites us to look within, and also beyond. As confusing as that might sound, it will make sense when you get the idea. Do you really want to let "being busy all the time" become your whole personality? Do you want to work for a company that does harm to the environment? I reckon "no" is your answer to the questions, and if I guess correctly, then congratulations. You are already one step into the change that Elizabeth proposes.

[Serap O'Hara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

I think this was moreso directed to a millennial audience who have been working office jobs since before and throughout COVID, so a lot of it didn't really click with me. There were a lot of interesting ideas and thoughts in this book, much of which I agreed with, and a few points that I didn't. The writing was really good and easy to follow.

I liked it, but I think I tend to prefer these kinds of non-fics with more provocative and radical ideas!

[Matt Cordas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book this - makes you think as to how the standard working environment has changed to now, and how that could continue.

[Amelia Mecham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pandemic has reset how we feel about ourselves, work, cities and communities.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable and thought-provoking.

[Onyeka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A futurist’s perspective on what comes next, post-Pandemic. It was great to hear a range of perspectives from the Mayor of London’s to economists and business leads. Lots of gems for thought provocation

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Reset looks at how we worked and lived pre-pandemic, and how we may reset our work, community and life culture, post pandemic.

This book is divided into 6 chapters: You, Culture, Business, Society, Community and City. It really highlighted changes in our world post 2020 and has made me reassess my own personal work-life balance.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters on how working from home and zoom meetings change our behaviours and the chapters on ‘burnout’. Elizabeth discusses how being busy was cool and how our routines made us over stressed and dangerously untested and how we are still experiencing burnout even working from home!

The discussions on work culture were eye opening. I always associated work culture with the freebies I received, however Elizabeth explains that culture should not be about what we get for free from companies, food, drink, lunches, haircuts etc. culture should be about how much a company personally invests in its employees.

I resonated with many of the themes in this inspiring book, including motherhood, women in the workplace and definitely that burnout. This book is both conversational and academic and a very easy read.

Elizabeth is the co-author of Slay In Your Lane & Loud Black Girls. I love her work and the fact that she is from Croydon! 🙌🏾😁

[Sum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished reading this book and I found it awesome, especially since like the rest of society I had been hurled into this new world of remote working. The author has done such an articulate job at asking so many of these questions and really making me think about the decisions I have made in life. The book prompts self examination and for us to ask ourselves what it is we truly want. The concepts are easily digestible and asks many questions of society, community, cities and the role of the individual. The pandemic has shown us we can live different lives, and the author captures the questions (and beyond) that many of us are asking now.