Hope at Work: 5 Principles to Breathe Life into Your Organization is a timely, evidence-based leadership book that establishes hope as a practical force in organizational life. Drawing on three decades of consulting and research, it speaks directly to leaders navigating rising demands for meaning, trust, and performance at work.
At its core, Hope at Work presents hope as a leadership practice. The book introduces five interdependent principles-Possibility, Agency, Worth, Openness, and Connection-that together form a framework for action. When these principles are present, organizations do not simply feel better; they perform better.
Through real-world stories, Perry and Hutson show how hope becomes operational when grounded in respect for human worth and collective action. Hope enables honest engagement with reality while keeping people moving forward-even under radical uncertainty and extraordinary pressure.
"In Hope at Work, Barbara Perry and Harry Hutson offer organizations a gift we urgently need: a framework for turning hope from sentiment into a shared capability-a disciplined, collective practice that fuels belonging, resilience, and meaningful progress."
- JERRY COLONNA, Author of Reboot and Reunion
"I love this book. It is beautiful and written in a way that translates years of observation, research and stories about hope in the workplace into something interesting, provocative, usable and potentially powerful."
- EDNA MORRIS, Board Chair, Tractor Supply Company
"In a world being rapidly shaped by AI and uncertainty, Hope at Work offers the human grounding leaders desperately need to build organizations where people can still see-and shape-a better future."
-JOHN WINSOR, Open Assembly and Harvard Business School
Barbara Perry, Ph.D., is a cultural anthropologist who has advised the tribes we call organizations for 50 years. Her work, rooted in the intersection of culture, organizational learning, and hope, has been applied to a wide variety of organizational challenges from innovation to large scale systemic transformation.
Harry Hutson, Ph.D., is a leadership development professional who works with organizations worldwide, as a coach, consultant, and educator. Earlier in his career, he held senior human resources and organizational development roles at Cummins, Avery Dennison, Global Knowledge, and Devon Energy.
Barbara Perry, Ph.D., is a cultural anthropologist who has advised the tribes we call organizations for 50 years. Her work, rooted in the intersection of culture, organizational learning, and hope, has been applied to a wide variety of organizational challenges from innovation to large scale systemic transformation. As a teacher, her goal is to stimulate growth in systems and individuals by designing processes that honor and integrate individual voice with collective knowledge and aligned action, to create resilient organizations capable of thriving in chaotic and complex times.Her previous writing includes articles on using team ethnography to uncover customer needs, the start-up of a high-performance work system, organizational learning, and the book, Putting Hope to Work: Five Principles to Activate your Organization's Most Powerful Resource.
Harry Hutson, Ph.D., is a leadership development professional who works with organizations worldwide, as a coach, consultant, and educator. Earlier in his career, he held senior human resources and organizational development roles at Cummins, Avery Dennison, Global Knowledge, and Devon Energy. Known for his blend of curiosity and care, he helps people "get out of their own way" and build cultures of meaningful accomplishment. His professional publications are designed for reflective, purpose-driven leaders. His books include Putting Hope to Work Five Principles to Activate your Organization's Most Powerful Resource; Navigating an Organizational Crisis: When Leadership Matters Most; and Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations.
A.G. Lafley led Procter & Gamble for two separate stints, from 2000 to 2010 and again from 2013 to 2015, during which he served as chairman, president and CEO. In 2015, he stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman of P&G. As CEO, Lafley is credited with revitalizing P&G by focusing on consumers as "the boss."
