Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself
Author: Daniel H.Pink
My note : According to Alvin Toffler's Third Wave,'employment' in new economy has been changed in its meaning and forms.
Free Agent Nation of Pink is one of the furthur interesting readings,that give pictures of coming future world economy & business life that tremendously changed from what we can understand now.
Amazon Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Not all "free agents" are highly paid athletes whose main skills are dunking a basketball or hitting a baseball. In fact, as Pink (contributing editor, Fast Company) reveals, over 25 million Americans are now self-employed, and fewer than one in ten works for a Fortune 500 company. This excellent work synthesizes the seismic shift in attitudes about and patterns of work in the economy from the early 1950s era of William Whyte's The Organization Man to today's independent worker, the free agent. Pink astutely summarizes what this major shift in the definition of employment now means to millions of Americans and explains the various types of free agents (including soloists, temps, and those involved in their own microbusiness). Other chapters cover examples of how self-sufficiency works so well for numerous life situations, while in many cases free-agency employment does not work well at all. This work may not be rooted in empirical research, but Pink's thorough review of the literature and his extensive roadwork interviewing hundreds of independent workers successfully merges psychosocial data with pragmatic reality. This major contribution to better understanding the trend toward independent contract work is highly recommended for all university libraries and larger public libraries. Dale Farris, Groves, TX
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
With Manpower, Inc., the temporary agency, the nation's largest private employer and one-quarter to one-third of American workers operating as "free agents," this author offers analysis of this "new economy" and advice on how to succeed in it. The Fast Company cover story that Pink, a former Gore chief speechwriter, wrote on the growth of "free agency" produced so much feedback that he traveled across the country with his young family to interview "America's new independent workers" for this book. Pink examines facts and figures, explores the roots of increasing free agency, and considers the new work ethic, employment contract, and time clock it generates. He outlines the structure of free-agent work and major disruptions (especially for involuntary free agents) and offers some predictions about how this new paradigm will affect institutional arrangements, including education, "e-tirement," real estate, finance, and politics. Pink understands how busy free agents are; each chapter closes with "The Box," which punchily summarizes the chapter's key points.
Mary CarrollCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Business Plus; 1st edition (May 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446678791
ISBN-13: 978-0446678797
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Business Plus; 1st edition (May 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446678791
ISBN-13: 978-0446678797
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars exceeded my high expectations, April 19, 2001
By Arnold Kling (Silver Spring, Md USA)
This review is from: Free Agent Nation: How America's New Independent Workers Are Transforming the Way We Live (Hardcover)
Free Agent Nation exceeded my expectations, which were high to begin with. This is not just a drawn-out version of Pink's classic cover story in Fast Company. It reflects extensive research and provides many surprising insights and interesting predictions.
This is not a book you can polish off in an hour or two. It is difficult to convey in a brief review the depth and richness of Free Agent Nation.
Pink demonstrates that free agents are a large and growing share of the work force. He describes some of the economic forces contributing to this phenomenon, but he finds that free agents themselves explain their reasons for leaving the corporate world in psychological terms: a desire for freedom, authenticity, accountability, and flexible concepts of success.
Pink shows that free agents have their own unique perspectives and solutions to such challenges as security, workplace relationships, career advancement, and work-family balance. For example, he describes the way that peer networks are providing the type of career support that formerly came from within large corporations.
Whether you like it or not, the gravitational forces between individuals and large corporations are weakening. In the future, how will business be re-organized? How will the economy function? Daniel Pink asks the big questions, and he comes up with a lot of fascinating answers. I expect Free Agent Nation to become the most talked-about nonfiction book
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