FUTURE PROOF

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.