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FUTURE PROOF

REINVENTING WORK IN THE AGE OF ACCELERATION

A thoughtful, insightful book that offers a calm voice in a turbulent business world.

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A forward-looking blueprint for a more gratifying work life.

Entrepreneur Wu David’s (Hong Kong ABC, 2011) business book offers sound strategies for coping with the inevitability of change. The text targets senior professionals, but it’s also appropriate for people just starting on their career paths. The author divides her discussion into three parts (“Learn,” “Cultivate,” and “Maximize”) and first examines how globalization, disruption, and increased longevity are transforming “the way people see the future of work.” Some content in Part I is futuristic, but it’s also grounded in realism, noting that, although workers may not be able to decelerate change, they can become more agile, adaptive, and resilient. In Part II, Wu David concentrates on experiential learning, urging people to experiment, reinvent, collaborate, and find focus in various ways. She provides numerous examples of people (including herself) who’ve pursued experimentation and reinvention. A key underlying theme of this part is the importance of being willing to take risks; for example, Wu David writes engagingly about strategies for pursuing new opportunities, as when she discusses the notion of “Slashers” (such as a “violinmaker/psychologist,” a “pro-athlete/investor,” or a “CFO Company A/CFO Company B”). As a networker herself, the author is committed to the idea of collaboration, and she writes about the subject authoritatively; her collaborative “exercises and action steps” should be particularly helpful for those looking to find greater value in teamwork. Part III considers the impact that one’s actions can have on one’s long-term career. Here, Wu David proposes a new way of defining success, emphasizing the idea of finding one’s purpose. This is the most philosophical portion of the book and should inspire self-reflection. In closing, the author asks a most intriguing question: “What would life…look like if we spent more time on what mattered most?” Her encouragement to do an “audit” of one’s personal and professional lives may be intimidating to some, but the idea has merit. Overall, she offers compassionate advice, relevant examples, and involving exercises.

A thoughtful, insightful book that offers a calm voice in a turbulent business world.

Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5445-1360-7

Page Count: 220

Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing

Review Posted Online: June 13, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019

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THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...

Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").

Pub Date: May 15, 1972

ISBN: 0205632645

Page Count: 105

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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