The way we’re working isn’t working

By Tony Schwartz


Book review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.


I agree with Schwartz’s basic premise that “nearly 75 percent of employees around the world feel disengaged at work every day.”  Also, I think that Schwartz’s ideas for “reenergizing our lives so we’re both more satisfied and more productive,” are on target.
    
Schwartz includes a 3-page bibliography and over 13 pages of notes.


His first three chapters (and their titles) clearly identify the problem: 1) “more & More, Less & Less (overwhelmed with technology and the urgencies that correspond, our creativity, quality, engagement, throughtful deliberation, and performance is undermined), 2) “We Can’t Change What We Don’t Notice,” and 3) “We’re Creature of Habit.”  Unfortunately, people cannot override negative inertia, and one book, no matter how good, cannot and will not (is unlikely to) help.


Make no mistake, this is a very good book and Schwartz’s strategies in the four areas of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual, are excellent — not necessarily ground breaking (or earth shattering) — but certainly they are fine ideas none-the-less.  I liked, for example, in the area of the physical, his chapters, “Sleep or Die,” and “Use It or Lose It.”  “The Facts and the Stories We Tell,” in the “emotional” area discussed “realistic optimism” and perception.  Excellent chapters.  The chapter, “Cultivating the Whole Brain,” in the “mental” part of the book is very good, and the chapter, “Purpose for Passion,” in the “spiritual” part is also well done.  Schwartz has some very good ideas.


I though Schwartz’ inclusion of “The Big Ideas,” Chapters 1-20 (pp. 277-296), which summarized all his chapters, was a great addition to this book.


Overall, I this book is superbly written, includes captivating stories and examples, offers well-illustrated (with tables and graphs) concepts, and uses excellent sources.  The average rating of the 21 reviews written at Amazon.com as I completed this review was five stars out of five.  That certainly says a lot.  


What I find unfortunate in all of this is that those who need this information the most will never see or read it.


This book can be found at Amazon.com: The way we’re working isn’t working