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Why Should Anyone Work Here?: What It Takes to Create an Authentic Organization
Imagine designing the best company on earth to work for . . .
What would that company be like? How would you build and sustain it? As a leader, you need to know. In the past, businesses made people conform to the organization’s needs. But the old paradigm has shifted. Now leaders must transform their organizations so that they attract the right people, keep them, and inspire them to do their best work. How do you create a culture people want to belong to?
In this powerful and necessary follow-up to the classic Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?, leadership and organizational sages Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones identify and illuminate the six key organizational attributes to do just that. In separate chapters, they delve deeply into each one:
1. Let people be themselves
2. Practice radical honesty
3. Magnify people’s strengths
4. Stand for authenticity (more than shareholder value)
5. Make work meaningful
6. Make simple rules
With vivid stories and examples from global companies, the authors illustrate the kind of strong, attractive workplace culture that leads to sustained high performance. They also provide ways of assessing how your company is doing and describe the tensions and trade-offs that leaders must manage as they transform their organizations.
Why Should Anyone Work Here? is the question all contemporary organizational leaders must constantly ask themselves if they want to survive and thrive in the new world. This book will help them answer that question.
What would that company be like? How would you build and sustain it? As a leader, you need to know. In the past, businesses made people conform to the organization’s needs. But the old paradigm has shifted. Now leaders must transform their organizations so that they attract the right people, keep them, and inspire them to do their best work. How do you create a culture people want to belong to?
In this powerful and necessary follow-up to the classic Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?, leadership and organizational sages Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones identify and illuminate the six key organizational attributes to do just that. In separate chapters, they delve deeply into each one:
1. Let people be themselves
2. Practice radical honesty
3. Magnify people’s strengths
4. Stand for authenticity (more than shareholder value)
5. Make work meaningful
6. Make simple rules
With vivid stories and examples from global companies, the authors illustrate the kind of strong, attractive workplace culture that leads to sustained high performance. They also provide ways of assessing how your company is doing and describe the tensions and trade-offs that leaders must manage as they transform their organizations.
Why Should Anyone Work Here? is the question all contemporary organizational leaders must constantly ask themselves if they want to survive and thrive in the new world. This book will help them answer that question.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published November 3, 2015
18 people are currently reading
371 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 20, 2022
2.5 stars
Didn't read cover to cover, as it was too dry and a lot of references/history I didn't find helpful. Lots of name-dropping but not in a way that made me excited to check out those authors/thinkers/leaders.
Helpful - reading the bold headings, scanning the text or reading sections for a heading that looked promising, and the organizational self-assessments (compiled in the back of the book). The assessments have you score each measure from 1-5 for your organization, and then those that are a 1-2 point to things you might want to work on improving for a better high performing organization or destination workplace. Might be worth turning into a staff survey to get the employee perspective beyond your own bias (especially if reading this as a CEO or leader).
Didn't read cover to cover, as it was too dry and a lot of references/history I didn't find helpful. Lots of name-dropping but not in a way that made me excited to check out those authors/thinkers/leaders.
Helpful - reading the bold headings, scanning the text or reading sections for a heading that looked promising, and the organizational self-assessments (compiled in the back of the book). The assessments have you score each measure from 1-5 for your organization, and then those that are a 1-2 point to things you might want to work on improving for a better high performing organization or destination workplace. Might be worth turning into a staff survey to get the employee perspective beyond your own bias (especially if reading this as a CEO or leader).
September 27, 2018
I find this book interesting, but skin-deep, so to say. The authors are good in promoting "new" ideas for the companies´ behaviour to attract and keep the right and bright employees (some of ideas are old in the new clothing, really) - but while they promotes their ideas well, they are quite subjective there (or a bit enamored with their side of things), so I find their findings and opinions being quite biased.
February 23, 2024
This was a required reading for an MBA course.
I enjoyed the ideal organizational considerations and how we can work to achieve them.
I enjoyed the ideal organizational considerations and how we can work to achieve them.
January 8, 2022
For my review, please visit: http://the-agency-review.com/why-shou...
January 13, 2016
Interesting thought experiment trying to apply the principles of the book --which is aimed mostly at senior leadership of for-profit companies--to the large governmental organization where I work in a very non-senior-management position. I like how the authors admit that "culture, in effect, has been a management fad that hasn't gone away--and that is because it is actually of foundational importance. "(9)
They argue that in the contemporary economy, some of the fundamentals of capitalist wage labor need to be upended: "in the authentic organization, rather than ceaselessly extracting value from employees, 'extra' value is added...Rather than thinking about how much they can get out of every person, these organizations think about how much they can magnify their strengths."(76) This is especially true because "HR professionals have been arguing for some time that careers peak earlier. Well, if they do, something follows as a mathematical necessity. You will be plateaued for longer--if you stay. The potential lack of novelty and motivation implied by that fact is hard to fathom. At the very least it removes a major source of meaning." (133)
They also repeat that for every strength of the organizational culture they advocate, not only are there are trade-offs you must expect and accept, but also that the various qualities of such a culture can be fundamentally at odds with each other. "While most organizations would say they want creativity and innovation, what they often don't understand is that this typically involves passionate conflict, edgy relationships (think Lennon and McCartney), and indeed, regular failure."(28) Or organizations that want both strong teams and shared values, but also want diversity and different ways of thinking. Or want both radical honesty and authenticity, but also tight control of the organization's public image. Can't really be done, so the authors encourage leaders to prioritize.
They argue that in the contemporary economy, some of the fundamentals of capitalist wage labor need to be upended: "in the authentic organization, rather than ceaselessly extracting value from employees, 'extra' value is added...Rather than thinking about how much they can get out of every person, these organizations think about how much they can magnify their strengths."(76) This is especially true because "HR professionals have been arguing for some time that careers peak earlier. Well, if they do, something follows as a mathematical necessity. You will be plateaued for longer--if you stay. The potential lack of novelty and motivation implied by that fact is hard to fathom. At the very least it removes a major source of meaning." (133)
They also repeat that for every strength of the organizational culture they advocate, not only are there are trade-offs you must expect and accept, but also that the various qualities of such a culture can be fundamentally at odds with each other. "While most organizations would say they want creativity and innovation, what they often don't understand is that this typically involves passionate conflict, edgy relationships (think Lennon and McCartney), and indeed, regular failure."(28) Or organizations that want both strong teams and shared values, but also want diversity and different ways of thinking. Or want both radical honesty and authenticity, but also tight control of the organization's public image. Can't really be done, so the authors encourage leaders to prioritize.
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April 22, 2016I reviewed this book for RMA, an executive search firm I write for. My review in its entirety (check it out) is here. The gist of my feeling boils down to this:
Researchers Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones identify the needs of the new workforce, scratching beneath the surface to examine where many firms are merely paying lip service to employee engagement, and highlighting the forces working against authentic engagement. The six qualities of an authentic organization conveniently spell the acronym DREAMS: Difference (celebrates and encourages diversity in all its forms), Radical honesty (strives for what we normally call transparency), Extra value (nurtures personal and professional growth), Authenticity (stands for something), and Meaning (provides meaningful day-to-day work).
Although the authors make a strong case, the strength of their book is in breaking down their concept into easily understood target realms. They are unlikely to convince the opposition to adopt their line of thinking, which means anyone reading the book is probably already sold on the concept. Those who need more convincing will find this offering interesting but impractical. However, leaders who agree with their (well-reasoned) assumptions will find Why Should Anyone Work Here? to be an inspiring guidebook toward redefining the workplace for the new world in which it exists.
November 15, 2015
A fundamental shift is indeed taking place all around us: more and more, today’s businesses find that, rather than asking or forcing individuals to step into line with the organization’s needs, they must adapt and transform themselves to attract the right people, keep them, and inspire them to do their best work, according to Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones in this book.
Their primary objective is to prepare as many executives as possible to help their organization to become or remain “authentic.” More specifically, "In our research we found three characteristics that seem to consistently differentiate what we regard as authentic organizations: they possess a sense of identify; they obsessively live their values; and their leaders model the company's values." Over the years, it has been my pleasure as well as privilege to work closely with the leaders of several such organizations and I can personally attest to the authenticity of those three characteristics.
Their primary objective is to prepare as many executives as possible to help their organization to become or remain “authentic.” More specifically, "In our research we found three characteristics that seem to consistently differentiate what we regard as authentic organizations: they possess a sense of identify; they obsessively live their values; and their leaders model the company's values." Over the years, it has been my pleasure as well as privilege to work closely with the leaders of several such organizations and I can personally attest to the authenticity of those three characteristics.
November 28, 2015
This is the kind of book which makes me think about the kind of organizations we are working with. Most of the literature I have read about this subject deals about the negativities of workplace and the different reasons why one should not be staying for long in just one organization.
True enough, these types of organizations are every where since ones hell organization maybe another's paradise.
This book gives a succinct illustration of what an organization that anyone should work for is like. It also narrates several anecdotes of different companies on how they created a unique kind of organization where their respective thrive.
Kudos to the authors for coming up with the DREAMS kind of organization.
True enough, these types of organizations are every where since ones hell organization maybe another's paradise.
This book gives a succinct illustration of what an organization that anyone should work for is like. It also narrates several anecdotes of different companies on how they created a unique kind of organization where their respective thrive.
Kudos to the authors for coming up with the DREAMS kind of organization.
May 12, 2016
Why should anyone work here? by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones
April & May 2016
3,5/5
*Unrequired reading for my secondary 5 economy class
“Why should anyone work here?” is a great introduction to every entrepreneur. It is easy to read and I think it offers great advice on how to create an ideal company. However, some of the points on how to achieve the perfect organization really weren’t clear or were overly abstract. Although most tricks were valid and could be useful to a leader, some of them just lacked clarity and I felt they were used as fillers. The research that M. Goffee and M. Jones did was truly remarkable and the examples were all relevant and could inspire future business leaders to do similar accomplishments with their own company.
April & May 2016
3,5/5
*Unrequired reading for my secondary 5 economy class
“Why should anyone work here?” is a great introduction to every entrepreneur. It is easy to read and I think it offers great advice on how to create an ideal company. However, some of the points on how to achieve the perfect organization really weren’t clear or were overly abstract. Although most tricks were valid and could be useful to a leader, some of them just lacked clarity and I felt they were used as fillers. The research that M. Goffee and M. Jones did was truly remarkable and the examples were all relevant and could inspire future business leaders to do similar accomplishments with their own company.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews