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The Living Dead: Switched Off, Zoned Out - The Shocking Truth About Office Life
Switch on the business news and you will probably be bombarded with yet more workplace experts telling you that everyone nowadays is grossly overworked, madly juggling their work-life balance until they finally keel over and die from the sheer stress of it all. We all know that's right, don't we? The real truth is that there are millions upon millions of people who are actively disengaged from their jobs, who spend months and years sitting in offices doing next to nothing, lost in the cracks of laughably inefficient and abysmally managed large organisations, their talents wasted and long forgotten. The Living Dead unmasks the myth of the workplace for the first time. It tells the truth. Not cloaked in humour, as in Dilbert and The Office, but in plain black and white. The Living Dead will captivate anyone anywhere in the world who has ever worked in a large office environment, or those who have a genuine desire to make people's working lives more productive and enjoyable. Here are some astonishing statistics about office life you probably never knew: David Bolchover writes frequently on business and management issues for The Times and The Sunday Times as well as a number of other national newspapers and specialist publications. His first book, The 90-Minute Manager, outlines the lessons which business managers can learn from football managers. Previously, he was employed for several years in a large office. But now he wants to do something with his life.
162 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 16, 2011
I recall reading somewhere that a predominant feature of life in France in the 1950s and 60s were legions of elderly women filling anonymous, uniformed jobs: tram conductors, museum attendants, library clerks -- anything that required a ticket to be punched or a desk to be warmed. These women were the widows of the Great War, employed by the state, given a subsistence wage and, vitally, a place to go during the day.
Reading 'The Living Dead', I kept thinking about the French war widows. Bolchover exposes the fundamental truth that a large chunk of the modern economy is devoted to giving the majority of the population somewhere to go during the day, and how this "Living Dead" is in on the deal. There's lots of good stuff here about corporate group-think, stagnant organisations, and the irreversible damage inflicted by boredom, mis-management and the brutal application of the Peter Principle.
He's a bit sort of solutions though, but let's face it, whoever works out how to restructure the clusterf*ck that passes for the modern Western economic model will be (rightly) hailed as a genius.
Reading 'The Living Dead', I kept thinking about the French war widows. Bolchover exposes the fundamental truth that a large chunk of the modern economy is devoted to giving the majority of the population somewhere to go during the day, and how this "Living Dead" is in on the deal. There's lots of good stuff here about corporate group-think, stagnant organisations, and the irreversible damage inflicted by boredom, mis-management and the brutal application of the Peter Principle.
He's a bit sort of solutions though, but let's face it, whoever works out how to restructure the clusterf*ck that passes for the modern Western economic model will be (rightly) hailed as a genius.
September 11, 2011
There are two ways to read David Bolchover's book about what really goes on in offices around the world: Either as a sneering jab at workplace phonies or as a savage indictment into the culture and ignorance that is destroying lives and businesses by equal measure. Read as the former it's a fascinating blackly comic portrayal of the emptiness of office life, read as the latter and it's thoroughly depressing for the same reasons.
Thankfully the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and so the humorous touches balance out the parts where you'll have your head in your hands, weeping quietly. Distant and self-satisfied business leaders cop it, as do platitude-spouting consultants, as do mover and schmoozers, worthless middle-managers and finally The Living Dead themselves, surfing the internet, flirting, skiving and phoning in sick as an alternative to actually doing any work.
Mercifully, Bolchover reserves the very least of his ire for The Living Dead at the bottom of the food-chain. He points out that one cannot shirk if there is nothing to shirk from and that is a manager is unable to inspire, engage and develop their staff then their is no point to them whatsoever. Some of his points are particularly painful, such as when he discusses presenteeism and the fact that most managers care more about how long someone spends sat at their desk than what they're doing while they're sat there.
Where Bolchover falls down is in his wild optimism. He predicts that we're very near to an age where employees will enjoy fantastic freedom and where we'll all be doing multiple jobs for multiple employers for a salary which we've negotiated ourselves. Even before the recession, this seemed like a pipe-dream. From my own experience I can say that we're more likely headed for a future where employees are treated like battery-hens, confined to desks with all verve and vitality utterly sapped. Bolchover laments the existence of The Living Dead, I lament the future of the Effectively Dead.
Thankfully the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and so the humorous touches balance out the parts where you'll have your head in your hands, weeping quietly. Distant and self-satisfied business leaders cop it, as do platitude-spouting consultants, as do mover and schmoozers, worthless middle-managers and finally The Living Dead themselves, surfing the internet, flirting, skiving and phoning in sick as an alternative to actually doing any work.
Mercifully, Bolchover reserves the very least of his ire for The Living Dead at the bottom of the food-chain. He points out that one cannot shirk if there is nothing to shirk from and that is a manager is unable to inspire, engage and develop their staff then their is no point to them whatsoever. Some of his points are particularly painful, such as when he discusses presenteeism and the fact that most managers care more about how long someone spends sat at their desk than what they're doing while they're sat there.
Where Bolchover falls down is in his wild optimism. He predicts that we're very near to an age where employees will enjoy fantastic freedom and where we'll all be doing multiple jobs for multiple employers for a salary which we've negotiated ourselves. Even before the recession, this seemed like a pipe-dream. From my own experience I can say that we're more likely headed for a future where employees are treated like battery-hens, confined to desks with all verve and vitality utterly sapped. Bolchover laments the existence of The Living Dead, I lament the future of the Effectively Dead.
May 21, 2021
I never usually read business or management books, and only picked this one up because it was free, and because I thought it was going to be more sociological than "How to maximise your human resources".
The first half is interesting, analysing why people stick in safe but boring jobs, and the extent to which it's easy to get away with doing nothing. I think the author leans a little too heavily on quotes from Corinne Maier's 'Bonjour Paresse', and doesn't spend enough time on the real reason that people are disengaged: their jobs are pointless bullshit.
Then the scope widens to include the some interesting chapters on the value of management, the possibilities of telework, and the reasons you should work in a smaller rather than larger company.
One other thing that bugged me: he keeps repeating the old trope of how much money is "lost" to business through illness, absenteeism and laziness. This money isn't "lost", it just hasn't been created. By that logic, letting staff go home to sleep also "loses" the company money.
The first half is interesting, analysing why people stick in safe but boring jobs, and the extent to which it's easy to get away with doing nothing. I think the author leans a little too heavily on quotes from Corinne Maier's 'Bonjour Paresse', and doesn't spend enough time on the real reason that people are disengaged: their jobs are pointless bullshit.
Then the scope widens to include the some interesting chapters on the value of management, the possibilities of telework, and the reasons you should work in a smaller rather than larger company.
One other thing that bugged me: he keeps repeating the old trope of how much money is "lost" to business through illness, absenteeism and laziness. This money isn't "lost", it just hasn't been created. By that logic, letting staff go home to sleep also "loses" the company money.
May 13, 2018
V niektorých veciach pravdu má, ale väčšina je buď čierna alebo biela. Sem tam spomenie, že možno sú tam niekde nejaké výnimky. Tiež sa nestotožňujem s tým, že talentovaný musí byť úspešný. Každý človek je iný, má svoju osobnosť a aj keď má talent, neznamená to, že bude mať úspech. A to, čo nás podľa neho čaká v budúcnosti... Aj keby to prinieslo výhody, prídu iné problémy, nad ktorými sa teraz nezamýšľal. Alebo len niečo skonštatoval, čo z môjho pohľadu problém je, ale on to tak vôbec nehodnotil. A tiež si nemyslím, že nuda v práci môže sa všetku neodôvodnenú absenciu, nečinnosť či neochotu pomáhať kolegovi. Niektorí ľudia sú jednoducho sebeckí a nech sa zmení, čo chce, oni nie. Môj problém s touto knihou je, že autor to podal tak, aby tá jeho pravda bola jediná pravda, lenže tá taká jednoduchá nie je a tiež sa tam opakovali konštatovania, len inak sformulované.
January 8, 2024
I had to read a part of this book to be able to do homework for my management of the human resources class. I was disappointed that the book started with a great idea to study the workplace, but that became annoying after the author started to talk a lot about how companies lost money if their workers spent time on the Internet or talking with their coworkers. These sound like the things the managers or the CEOs complain about to their workers. They don't care that the humans need some time for themselves and they don't win the money, the company loses, if they work hard for the company. What these people think working means if you work for a company where working hard means that you exchange your health, time, and energy to make a little money while the people who benefit from this just complain about your work and expect you to work as a robot. This is the reason the rich people encourage technology and that it is better to develop better technology.
October 30, 2014
The Living Dead (2005) by David Bolchover is a book about people working in offices who do little if anything of use. It's an examination of how people become unmotivated and disenchanted but remain in jobs of dubious use. These people Bolchover refers to as 'The Living Dead'.
The book starts strongly with the author describing his own path of increasing pay and decreasing work. Bolchover then looks at how looking for meaning in a job is also critical and that the meaninglessness of much office work facilitates disenchantment. He then describes how nonsense and deceit lead to many living dead jobs with nobody willing to say that the jobs that they do are not worth doing.
Managers are next targeted and the dismal abilities of many middle managers duly mocked. The lack of great ability in the vast majority of senior management is also examined.
Finally the book describes a possible antidote to the rot by contracting out many of the services of large companies to small companies or individuals. Bolchover believes that by paying these smaller entities for what they do, rather than paying people for their attendance in an office better results will be achieved.
The book describes a common condition for employees of large companies and those who work in the public sector. It's surely true that many people do little and even more do work that is of dubious utility in large organisations.
The recommendations of the book are, however, far less certain. The problems of contracting out things all the time are evident to people who have been involved in contracting things out. Often what is delivered is not what was sought and the company that provided the service has little interest in really solving the problem.
Also, people who do little are often dealt with by organisations that can make them redundant or fire them. Doing enough to get by is probably far more common. The book also glosses over the role of the market in weeding out companies that have too many people doing too little and the way in which companies are often reorganised to dispense with functions of little value. The public sector lacks the market feedback and information to know.
The book is fun and is pleasantly short. Bolchover hasn't padded it out with needless verbiage. The condition described of people being paid to not do much or at least not nearly as much as they could is certainly common. The conclusions might not be correct but the diagnosis of the disorder is definitely insightful.
The book starts strongly with the author describing his own path of increasing pay and decreasing work. Bolchover then looks at how looking for meaning in a job is also critical and that the meaninglessness of much office work facilitates disenchantment. He then describes how nonsense and deceit lead to many living dead jobs with nobody willing to say that the jobs that they do are not worth doing.
Managers are next targeted and the dismal abilities of many middle managers duly mocked. The lack of great ability in the vast majority of senior management is also examined.
Finally the book describes a possible antidote to the rot by contracting out many of the services of large companies to small companies or individuals. Bolchover believes that by paying these smaller entities for what they do, rather than paying people for their attendance in an office better results will be achieved.
The book describes a common condition for employees of large companies and those who work in the public sector. It's surely true that many people do little and even more do work that is of dubious utility in large organisations.
The recommendations of the book are, however, far less certain. The problems of contracting out things all the time are evident to people who have been involved in contracting things out. Often what is delivered is not what was sought and the company that provided the service has little interest in really solving the problem.
Also, people who do little are often dealt with by organisations that can make them redundant or fire them. Doing enough to get by is probably far more common. The book also glosses over the role of the market in weeding out companies that have too many people doing too little and the way in which companies are often reorganised to dispense with functions of little value. The public sector lacks the market feedback and information to know.
The book is fun and is pleasantly short. Bolchover hasn't padded it out with needless verbiage. The condition described of people being paid to not do much or at least not nearly as much as they could is certainly common. The conclusions might not be correct but the diagnosis of the disorder is definitely insightful.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews