Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself - Softcover

Pink, Daniel H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0446678791 ISBN 13: 9780446678797

Publisher: Business Plus, 2002

Synopsis

Widely acclaimed for its engaging style and provocative perspective, this book has helped thousands transform their working lives. Now including a 30-page resource guide that explains the basics of working for oneself.

It's about fulfillment. A revolution is sweeping America. On its front lines are people fed up with unfulfilling jobs, dysfunctional workplaces, and dead-end careers. Meet today's new economic icon: the free agent-men and women who are working for themselves. And meet your future.

It's about freedom. Free agents are the marketing consultant down the street, the home-based "mompreneur," the footloose technology contractor. Already 30 million strong, these 21st-century pioneers are creating lives with more meaning-and often more money. Free Agent Nation is your ticket to this world.

It's about time. Now, you can discover:

• The kind of free agent you can be-"soloist," "temp," or "microbusiness"-and how to launch your new career.
• How to get the perks you once received from your boss: health insurance, office space, training, workplace togetherness, even water cooler gossip.
• Why the free agent economy is increasingly a woman's world-and how women are flourishing in it.
• The transformation of retirement-how older workers are creating successful new businesses (and whole new lives) through the Internet.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Tom Peters, author of IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE:
"FREE AGENT NATION is the best book on work life since William H. Whyte, Jr.'s THE ORGANIZATION MAN. Whyte was the brilliant archivist of work in the old economy. Pink is the brilliant analyst-balladeer of work in the new economy. Confident prediction: 25 years from now we'll still be discussing FREE AGENT NATION. Added benefit: the book is as beautifully written as it is profoundly prophetic. It's so original and comprehensive I grew exhausted from underlining." Nancy Evans, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, iVillage.com:
"Women are definitely a driving force among free agents. I see it at iVillage and out in the world. Daniel Pink does a great job of understanding what inspires these individuals to strike out on their own -- the ability to lead a fulfilling, integrated life on their own terms. Here's hoping this book liberates even more free agents!"

Seth Godin, author of UNLEASHING THE IDEA VIRUS
"The most important book on the death of the large economy I've seen. Your current employer is DEAD. The dead-end job is DEAD. The days of huge companies dominating every facet of our worklife are OVER. Listen to Pink or lose out!"

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

CHAPTER 1

THE CRUX: In the second half of the twentieth century, the key to understanding America's social and economic life was the Organization Man. In the first half of the twenty-first century, the new emblematic figure is the free agent-the independent worker who operates on his or her own terms, untethered to a large organization, serving multiple clients and customers instead of a single boss. The rise of free agency shatters many ironclad premises about work, life, and business in America- from how companies should operate, to how we structure our health care, retirement, and education systems, to which values guide our lives. To truly understand the new economy, you must first understand the free agent.

THE FACTOID: The largest private employer in the U.S. is not Detroit's General Motors or Ford, or even Seattle's Microsoft or Amazon.com, but Milwaukee's Manpower Inc., a temp agency.

THE QUOTE: "This book is about the free agent. If the term is vague, it is because I can think of no other way to describe the people I am talking about. They are free from the bonds of a large institution, and agents of their own futures. They are the new archetypes of work in America."

THE WORD:Tailorism. The free agent's approach to work; descendant of Taylorism, Frederick Winslow Taylor's One Best Way method of mass production. Under Tailorism, free agents fashion their work lives to suit their own needs and desires- instead of accepting the uniform values, rules, and structure of a traditional job. Opposite of the One Size Fits All ethic of the Organization Man era. (Synonym: My Size Fits Me).

Copyright (c) 2001 by Daniel H. Pink

About this edition

• Publisher: Business Plus
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0446678791
• ISBN 13: 9780446678797
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400