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The Search for Meaning
Book by Handy, Charles B
93 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1996
About the author
Charles B. Handy
70 books138 followersCharles Brian Handy was an Irish author and philosopher who specialised in organizational behavior and management. Among the ideas he advanced are the "portfolio career" and the "shamrock organization" (in which professional core workers, freelance workers and part-time/temporary routine workers each form one leaf of the "shamrock").
Handy was rated among the Thinkers 50, a private list of the most influential living management thinkers. In 2001, he was second on this list, behind Peter Drucker, and in 2005, he was tenth. When the Harvard Business Review had a special issue to mark the publication's 50th anniversary Handy, Peter Drucker, and Henry Mintzberg were asked to write special articles.
In July 2006, Handy was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Law by Trinity College Dublin.
Handy was rated among the Thinkers 50, a private list of the most influential living management thinkers. In 2001, he was second on this list, behind Peter Drucker, and in 2005, he was tenth. When the Harvard Business Review had a special issue to mark the publication's 50th anniversary Handy, Peter Drucker, and Henry Mintzberg were asked to write special articles.
In July 2006, Handy was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Law by Trinity College Dublin.
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July 25, 2026
I have had this book a very long time - not sure how I came by it but it sat on my shelf alongside other Handy books I bought during my MA that I dipped into very briefly and not paid too much attention to. I was clearing out my shelves and trying to make room for new books and realised the it was time to pass these on and realised I never actually read this little book. Whilst this is from the 90's the same principles apply today - businesses wanting to be more creative and creative organisations needing to operate more like businesses to keep the lights on.
At the heart of it is a need to find your passion and purpose which looks different at different ages. The 1990s me may have seen things quite differently to the 2o26 me - now on the cusp of turning 50! with aging and ill parents occupying my mind. Having made a big life change from 22 years in London to Dublin and mapping that on the 'second curve' - I couldn't see the second curve in the 90's as I had hardly started my first curve.. There was a line that has stayed with me reading this ‘The trouble is that life is understood backwards but you have to live it forwards’ - Charles Handy
At the heart of it is a need to find your passion and purpose which looks different at different ages. The 1990s me may have seen things quite differently to the 2o26 me - now on the cusp of turning 50! with aging and ill parents occupying my mind. Having made a big life change from 22 years in London to Dublin and mapping that on the 'second curve' - I couldn't see the second curve in the 90's as I had hardly started my first curve.. There was a line that has stayed with me reading this ‘The trouble is that life is understood backwards but you have to live it forwards’ - Charles Handy
Displaying 1 of 1 review