About the book
Aaron Dignan argues that organizations are complex human systems, not machines to be predicted and controlled, and that they cannot be fixed by tinkering at the edges. He lists the frustrations he hears almost everywhere: low trust, slow decisions, siloed teams, meeting and email overload, tiresome budgeting and short-term thinking. His answer is to reinvent an organization's operating system, the principles and practices that shape its culture, through autonomy, trust and transparency rather than mandates from the top. Examples include a bank that dropped traditional budgeting, an appliance maker split into 2,000 autonomous teams, a healthcare provider whose 50-person headquarters supports more than 14,000 field staff, and a team that saved $3 million a year by cancelling one monthly meeting.
Seth Godin endorsed it as the management book of the year, and Adam Grant called it a breath of fresh air on building workplaces that enhance dignity and freedom.
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This book has 4 recommendations
Seth Godin (Author & Entrepreneur)
This is the management book of the year. Clear, powerful and urgent, it's a must read for anyone who cares about where they work and how they work.
Arianna Huffington (Founder/The Huffington Post)
Human beings can’t thrive in a work culture that uses burnout and 'being always on' as proxies for dedication and success. In Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan shows us that, in fact, workplaces that empower people to take care of themselves are far more likely to deliver sustainable performance and happiness.
Kevin Kelly (Co-Founder/Wired Magazine)
I am now a convert. Aaron sums up all the crazy ideas about how to create teams and companies that maximize their potential by decentralizing their power—a once idealist notion that is now possible and essential. For a book that might start a revolution, it's surprisingly practical and undogmatic. There’s no fluff—it's all meat, and real news. I could think of dozens of people I know who I now want to read and study it.
Adam Grant (Author)
Imagine a world of work that enhances our dignity and freedom instead of degrading and constraining us. That’s what Aaron Dignan helps organizations create, and his book on how to do it is a breath of fresh air.
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