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Lab rats : how Silicon Valley made work miserable for the rest of us / Dan Lyons.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Hachette Books, 2018Edition: First editionDescription: viii, 259 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780316561860
  • 031656186X
Subject(s):
Contents:
Welcome to your new job -- Introduction: Make a duck -- Misery in the maze. Unhappy in paradise ; The new oligarchs ; A very brief history of management science (and why you shouldn't trust it) ; Who's afraid of Silicon Valley -- Four factors of workplace despair. Building the workforce of the future (or: Sorry, you're old and we'd like you to leave) ; Money: "Garbage at the speed of light" ; Insecurity: "We're a team, not a family" ; Change: "What happens if you live inside a hurricane that never ends?" ; Dehumanization: "Think of yourself as a machine within a machine" -- The no-shit-Sherlock school of management. The battle for the soul of work ; Basecamp: back to basics ; Managed by Q: "Everybody cleans" ; Kapor capital: conscious capitalists ; The social enterprise movement -- Epilogue: Can zebras fix what unicorns have broken?
Summary: Examines how the ideas of Silicon Valley and its "new oligarchs" have changed work culture, making employees subject to constant change, dehumanizing technologies, and even health risks, and discusses how to restore the social contract between employers and employees.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 658.3 L991 Available 33111009270386
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

New York Times bestselling author Dan Lyons exposes how the "new oligarchs" of Silicon Valley have turned technology into a tool for oppressing workers in this "passionate" ( Kirkus ) and "darkly funny" ( Publishers Weekly ) examination of workplace culture.

At a time of soaring corporate profits and plenty of HR lip service about "wellness," millions of workers--in virtually every industry -- are deeply unhappy. Why did work become so miserable? Who is responsible? And does any company have a model for doing it right?

For two years, Lyons ventured in search of answers. From the innovation-crazed headquarters of the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, to a cult-like "Holocracy" workshop in San Francisco, and to corporate trainers who specialize in . . . Legos , Lyons immersed himself in the often half-baked and frequently lucrative world of what passes for management science today. He shows how new tools, workplace practices, and business models championed by tech's empathy-impaired power brokers have shattered the social contract that once existed between companies and their employees. These dystopian beliefs--often masked by pithy slogans like "We're a Team, Not a Family" -- have dire consequences: millions of workers who are subject to constant change, dehumanizing technologies -- even health risks.

A few companies, however, get it right. With Lab Rats , Lyons makes a passionate plea for business leaders to understand this dangerous transformation, showing how profit and happy employees can indeed coexist.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-250) and index.

Examines how the ideas of Silicon Valley and its "new oligarchs" have changed work culture, making employees subject to constant change, dehumanizing technologies, and even health risks, and discusses how to restore the social contract between employers and employees.

Welcome to your new job -- Introduction: Make a duck -- Misery in the maze. Unhappy in paradise ; The new oligarchs ; A very brief history of management science (and why you shouldn't trust it) ; Who's afraid of Silicon Valley -- Four factors of workplace despair. Building the workforce of the future (or: Sorry, you're old and we'd like you to leave) ; Money: "Garbage at the speed of light" ; Insecurity: "We're a team, not a family" ; Change: "What happens if you live inside a hurricane that never ends?" ; Dehumanization: "Think of yourself as a machine within a machine" -- The no-shit-Sherlock school of management. The battle for the soul of work ; Basecamp: back to basics ; Managed by Q: "Everybody cleans" ; Kapor capital: conscious capitalists ; The social enterprise movement -- Epilogue: Can zebras fix what unicorns have broken?

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