Rating: 
Summary: Seven Stars
Review: This is the first book I've read that tempted me to write my review before I reached the last page. The content and the style inspired me to spread the good word before I finished the book. I forced myself to wait, and was continually delighted with what I gleaned from each page.The world of work is changing-dramatically and quickly. Few people really "get" what is happening, let alone what to do about it. In my work as a Consulting Business Futurist, I face a daily challenge of motivating leaders to open up, shift their perspective, and begin to function differently than they ever have before. I'm almost embarrassed that I didn't write "Work 2.0," but still will have no difficulty at all in recommending it to my clients. I'll also recommend it to corporate executives who are not yet enlightened enough to become clients! Reading this book will shake them up enough to do something. The message of this book is powerful, direct, and in-your-face. It's compelling; you won't want to put this book down. Employees are becoming more demanding-they want recognition, respect, empowerment, and all the rest, but with a different twist and different intensity than we've ever seen. Have you read the books about disruptive events that change history? Jensen closes-after the endnotes, acknowledgements, subject index, and people index-with a list of 55 disruptive events. Number 55 is 9/11/2001. And more has happened since then. You, dear reader, will be part of the sequel. It's unavoidable. Corporate leaders: Read this book. Now, before your competitors do. Human resource professionals: "Work 2.0" will unsettle you and stimulate you to advise management in a whole new way. Allow me to quote from the FAQ page at the end of the book. "Dear Loony Author: Are you nuts? Have you read the papers? Employees are in no position to ask for anything but breadcrumbs. As far as I'm concerned, there's no way the My-Way is coming our way. Sincerely, Exec-in-Charge." Jensen heard this message from senior executives, just as we have. Executives excited about being back in control as the economy slowed. Guess what! The economy's picking up. As we report in our book, "Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Too Few People" (also available from amazon.com), employers are moving into the most severe shortage of skilled labor in history. Employees will be in the driver's seat again. The new contract with employees, described in vivid detail in "Work 2.0," is being written now-by workers, not by employers. Executives who don't get the message of this book risk being written out of the contract. The choice is yours.
Rating:
Summary: One of Year's Ten Best: Sleeper Hit!
Review: This sleeper hit will turn out to be one of this year's ten most
important books. Published at the very moment scandals exploded and markets imploded, Jensen saw the need for us to take more control of our own future, and shows us how. 2.0 looks at work, with in-your-face truthtelling. For example, nowhere will the CEO&Guru authors of "Execution" tell you that "the leaders of great workplaces must accept accountability for life's precious assets" (how our time gets spent/wasted every day), or that today's leaders "must be willing to be challenged on, and address, work-level details." Jensen backs up those ideas with examples, and new ways work and have a life too. Among the ideas and tools I found most helpful:
* A chapter on how to redefine our relationship w/ our employers
* A tool, The SimplerWork Index, that provides completely
new measures for great places to work
* New examples of how to build operations to meet the needs of workers and customers
* An unheard-of-commitment to personal productivity: Corporate commitments to helping each individual, not just the business, get more done with less resources I believe that this book is ten-best-important because, at the very moment when marketplace and corporate foundations are being shaken, 2.0 asks completely new questions of us, of our relationship with those companies, and of what it takes for us to be our best. It shapes a completely new conversation about work, life, and what we want from each.
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