The Future Of Success
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- £6.49
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- £6.49
Publisher Description
The dizzying exuberance of the Internet driven marketplace offers unprecedented opportunities and an ever-expanding choice of deals, products, investments, and jobs - ranging from the merely attractive to the nearly irresistible for the people with the right talent and skills. The technology that is the motor of transformation relentlessly sharpens competition. Sellers must make constant improvements by cutting costs, adding value, and creating new products. This is a boon to us as consumers, but it's wreaking havoc in the rest of our lives. Reich demonstrates that the faster the economy changes, the harder it is for people to be confident of what they will be earning next year or even next month, what they will be doing, where they will be doing it. In short, those fabulous new deals of the fabulous new economy carry a steep price: more frenzied lives, less security, more economic and social stratification, the loss of time and energy for family, friendship, community and self. Reich reveals what success is coming to mean in our time - the pitfalls and downturns hidden in the apparent advantages and advances - and suggests how we might create a more balanced society and more satisfying lives. The trends he discusses are powerful indeed, but they are not irreversible, or at least not unalterable. The Future of Success is a stunning, timely book, certain to galvanize the way we look at our future.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
From his dual perspective as former Clinton administration secretary of labor and academic social scientist, Reich (bestselling author of Locked in the Cabinet) offers a knowledgeable overview of the pros and cons of today's economy for the average worker. New ways of doing business spurred by digital technology, he states, have led to "eye-popping deals and bargains, opportunities never dreamed of--exactly what you want, from anywhere, at the best price and value" for consumers. At the same time, the ease with which potential buyers can switch to any better new deal puts all producers under intense competitive pressure. Reich argues that the choice between innovation or death that producers now face has filtered down to workers in the form of reduced loyalty from employers and sharply curtailed retirement and fringe benefits. Those who suspect that they are working harder over longer hours will find confirmation here that they are in good company, as well as a keen analysis of the impact of our new working arrangements on marriages, children and how we enjoy our lives. Then Reich pops the $1 million question: Would we willingly accede to the new demands of the workplace if we fully appreciated the consequences for our family lives? Sensing a growing dissatisfaction across the nation, Reich offers tantalizing proposals for moderating the more disruptive influences that have arrived along with the blessings of the emerging economy.
