Thoughts For The Day

by Charles B. Handy

Charles Handy may well be Britain's only world-class management guru (Director Magazine) but his thoughts about organisations and the role of the individual involve thoughts beyond pay and display. For five years, Handy delivered a series of Thoughts for the Radio 4 Today Programme which addressed spiritual issues. These were collected in a volume called Waiting for the Mountain to Move, originally published in 1991. The distilled essence of Handy's meditations and advice are published now in a new, small Little Book of Calm format, in two colours and with b&w illustrations. 'My concern is only to point to what I see as the meaning in things and to the ultimate purpose in life in order to encourage other people to find their meaning and their purpose' Charles Handy

Genres: Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Charles Brian Handy was an Irish author and philosopher who specialised in organizational behavior and management. Among the ideas he advanced are the "portfolio career" and the "shamrock organization" (in which professional core workers, freelance workers and part-time/temporary routine workers each form one leaf of the "shamrock").
Handy was rated among the Thinkers 50, a private list of the most influential living management thinkers. In 2001, he was second on this list, behind Peter Drucker, and in 2005, he was tenth. When the Harvard Business Review had a special issue to mark the publication's 50th anniversary Handy, Peter Drucker, and Henry Mintzberg were asked to write special articles.
In July 2006, Handy was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Law by Trinity College Dublin.

Reviews

[Tony Lawrence]

Possibly my least favourite Handy book that I have read, but I guess he was constrained by radio soundbites and the need to include some overt or subtle religious/spiritual message. I recognise some of the themes from his richer business writings; corporate ethics, individual responsibilities, flexibility and tolerance in the work-place etc. I will stick to his longer-form writings in future!

[Dennis Deery · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are few greater thinkers on business than Handy, and this collection of short radio essays for the BBC show him to be quite a philosopher as well.