  I may have slipped into total curmudgeon-hood, or maybe my quest to read so many books on technology in the workplace has finally taken its toll, or maybe I'm overdue for vacation. Whatever. But Grantham's opus gave me a really good snooze (when I wasn't feeling irritated by reading yet another attempt to cash in on the book-buying public's hunger for a unified field theory on the interaction of work and technology). Let me say right up front, I acknowledge I may be overreacting; there may be many individuals who will find this book fascinating and informative. My bifocals are off to them! And to the degree that the author calls upon Peter Drucker to substantiate his case, I must give him some credence. So much for disclaimers. Now for what I really think of the book -- could 8,000 Amazon.com customers (OK, maybe three) possibly be wrong?
Objection #1: Though the author claims to be trying to avoid lofty, cliched jargon in favor of practical, usable information, he often lapses into a form of newspeak that can glaze eyeballs from 50 yards: "...the manifestation of the 'atomization of the economy' and the emergence of new structures of working social networks...," "...empirical research on the social-psychological aspects of telecommunicating...," "...the cost-benefit ratio for relying on telework shifts due to precipitous drops in..." At this point, I'm experiencing precipitous drops in my eyelids!
Objection #2: I find it offensive to have my brain referred to as "wetware." To me, wetware sounds like what you don to go swimming...or what you drink Margaritas from. Since Grantham describes the brain as "...that uniquely human power of thought and emotion that adds a dimension of interactivity to hardware and software," why use a totally nonunique, nonhuman term for it?
Objection #3: I found myself experiencing "metaphoria," that vague, uneasy sensation occasioned by the excessive use, on a single page, of symbolic figures of speech. "Hollywood" is a metaphor for how we work together now, with teams of teams coming together for projects and disbanding afterward. "Basketball" is the sports metaphor for Hollywood. "Collaboration" is the social metaphor for Hollywood. Even Grantham's metaphors have metaphors! Should I be thinking Oscar award, zone defense, or taking up with the enemy?
Objection #4: Grantham appears to see worklife as the starting point or focal point of "community." And "community" is the mechanism that helps us define (1) who we are, (2) what we're a part of, (3) what connects us to the rest of the world, (4) and what relationships matter to us. "...communities we build around ourselves, beginning in the workplace and extending into the other parts of our social lives, answer these four basic questions that all human beings have." I don't have a problem with the notion of community and its value as Grantham defines them. I do have a problem with arguing that we will be more fully human if we put "...more and more emphasis on our work life as our work life blurs into the rest of our world." Don't we already have enough difficulties acknowledging, and providing methods of achieving, balance between work and the rest of our lives? In fairness, Grantham is perhaps making more of an observation about this dynamic than he is promoting it, except to the degree that he believes technology will assist us in forming "community" via work. But what are we really doing when we provide mechanisms and support for allowing people to see work as their primary source of community?
I could go on, but frankly it's late and my community of cats awaits me at home. As for The Future of Work, a sleeping tablet may be cheaper.
About the Author
Dr. Charles Grantham manages an extensive applied research program at the Institute for the Study of Distributed Work. A Visiting Research Fellow at the Hass School of Business, UC Berkeley, he has held faculty positions at several universities. Formerly the executive director of research and development at a regional Bell operating company, Dr. Grantham has co-authored several textbooks and appears regularly on national news broadcasts to discuss the social ramifications of new workplace trends.
|
|
|
