by Christopher Creel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 2019
An often engaging argument for taking a more holistic approach to office work.
An enthusiastic endorsement of a new approach to organizational design in business settings.
In this debut book, Creel passionately advocates for a system that he calls “Adaptive”—a technology-enabled, collaborative corporate structure that minimizes hierarchy, values workers’ skills more highly than office politics, and coaches employees toward continual improvement. Creel explains the philosophy behind his program, places it in the context of two centuries of organizational design, and lays out, in broad terms, how to develop an Adaptive workplace using communication tools, such as Slack and automated chatbots, or bots, which can offer advice and help with repetitive tasks, and are designed to meet a company or team’s specific needs. Numerous examples from Creel’s experiences developing Adaptive teams at multiple companies provide detailed illustrations of the process, and of the opportunities it presents for businesses. The book concludes with an assessment of potential challenges to implementing an Adaptive structure in the workplace, but its overall message is one of strong support for the concept. Creel is a dynamic writer (“There is something inherently less agitating about a bot suggesting you should do something good for you than a human telling you the same thing”), and it’s not hard to get swept up in his enthusiasm for the topic. That said, his description of tools that are “designed to gamify work discipline” does seem excessively utopian. The explanations of how to implement various techniques are generally clear and actionable, although many readers will need to look elsewhere for specifics regarding the aforementioned bots, which are a crucial element of the Adaptive system. The book is also hampered by the author’s tendency to vaguely attribute conclusions to “studies” and “research” without providing specifics. On the whole, however, Creel provides a thought-provoking, enjoyable text that provides some solid insights about making meaningful changes in the workplace.
An often engaging argument for taking a more holistic approach to office work.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5445-0268-7
Page Count: 274
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Share your opinion of this book
by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
Share your opinion of this book
More by Ludwig Bemelmans
BOOK REVIEW
developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
BOOK REVIEW
by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
BOOK REVIEW
by Charlayne Hunter-Gault ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1992
From the national correspondent for PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour: a moving memoir of her youth in the Deep South and her role in desegregating the Univ. of Georgia. The eldest daughter of an army chaplain, Hunter-Gault was born in what she calls the ``first of many places that I would call `my place' ''—the small village of Due West, tucked away in a remote little corner of South Carolina. While her father served in Korea, Hunter-Gault and her mother moved first to Covington, Georgia, and then to Atlanta. In ``L.A.'' (lovely Atlanta), surrounded by her loving family and a close-knit black community, the author enjoyed a happy childhood participating in activities at church and at school, where her intellectual and leadership abilities soon were noticed by both faculty and peers. In high school, Hunter-Gault found herself studying the ``comic-strip character Brenda Starr as I might have studied a journalism textbook, had there been one.'' Determined to be a journalist, she applied to several colleges—all outside of Georgia, for ``to discourage the possibility that a black student would even think of applying to one of those white schools, the state provided money for black students'' to study out of state. Accepted at Michigan's Wayne State, the author was encouraged by local civil-rights leaders to apply, along with another classmate, to the Univ. of Georgia as well. Her application became a test of changing racial attitudes, as well as of the growing strength of the civil-rights movement in the South, and Gault became a national figure as she braved an onslaught of hostilities and harassment to become the first black woman to attend the university. A remarkably generous, fair-minded account of overcoming some of the biggest, and most intractable, obstacles ever deployed by southern racists. (Photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-374-17563-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
Share your opinion of this book
More by Charlayne Hunter-Gault
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.