Customer Reviews

Creating You & Co.: Learn To Think Like The CEO Of Your Own Career

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For a long time, says the author, a job was not something you had, but something you did. In other words, you didn't go to the office with the expectation that the Job was a kind of host organism that would sustain you indefinitely, in good times and bad. You *did* a job by identifying a need that someone would pay you to meet, meeting it, and moving on to the next job.

That's essentially the approach Bridges advocates here, and while it's easier to talk about it than to actually carry it out, one gets the feeling he's probably right. Concisely and without preaching, he provides a reminder of something most of us probably have already accepted, i.e., that there is no job security any more. By nudging you to adopt a more entrepreneurial outlook, Bridges makes you feel a little better about this turn of events.

At a minimum, this ought to make you re-examine your basic assumptions about work. Broadly speaking, that means questioning the whole employer/employee paradigm (mercifully, Bridges does not use this word often), and more specifically, getting you to think harder about your own work---what you do best, what you're doing now, and why you continue doing it.

You and Co. contains many self-assessment quizzes, which I found helpful. I haven't read What Color Is Your Parachute? or anything similar since about 1985, so I worked through these exercises and felt like I actually learned something. However, if you've recently read other books in this genre, Creating You and Co. may feel like you're re-treading some of that same ground.

One of the reviewers below comments on the first chapter of the book, complaining that he found it dry. This section summarizes Bridges' earlier book JobShift, and the summary does read a bit like the extract of a monograph---which it is. If you're not interested in the socio-economic reasons why jobs are disappearing, just skip the first chapter. The rest of the book stays squarely focused on giving practical advice.

The final virtue of You and Co.: it is brief.

Some of William Bridges' best work has been in the area of helping people make the transition from "jobs" to "work". Creating You & Co. is an excellent follow-up to Bridges' book entitled, JobShift. JobShift helped many people begin to deal with the loss of their job, and the gaining of meaningful work. Creating You & and Co. helps many people be empowered to take charge of their own life and career as it relates to jobs and work.

This book does not go so far as to suggest an arrogant individualism, but it does say that people need to see themselves as a marketable commodity that they control, rather than that the boundaries of their work situation controls. Individuals need to reconceptualize job skills such as education and experiences, as work skills which include, among others, desire and abilities.

Loyalty and longevity in an organization for someone in control of their career will depend on regularly demonstrating that they are learners whose desire, abilities, temperament, and assets [D.A.T.A.] can be used in a variety of roles--and in a variety of companies or organizations if this one is no longer interested.

People who reinvent themselves as a personal career company are probably happier employees because they have a best alternative already figured out if the specific job they hold is eliminated.

This was an easy book to read, and one where a copy will be needed for each person in your organization if you really want to empower people to reach their full potential.

I read this book when it was first published several years ago and recently re-read it, curious to see how well its core concepts have held up. In fact, they seem even more relevant now than they did before as more people, each day, become -- in effect -- free agents.

Here's a hypothetical question: How many of those who (let's say) retired five years ago now wish they had read this book when they first went to work full-time? (Yes, yes, I realize that this book was first published in 1997. As I said, a hypothetical question.) As Bridges carefully examines several key issues concerning career manning and management in this book, I was again reminded: If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.

It may now be too late for retirees but assuredly this book could be of substantial benefit to their children and, especially, to their grandchildren.

I share Bridges' fascination with transitions during which new paradigms reveal themselves. Some may involve countries (e.g. those in the Third World), others involve organizations (e.g. Roman Catholic Church, IBM, Nissan), and still others involve human lives. I know of no one else who better understands than does Bridges the probable causes, consequences, and implications of transitions nor anyone else who offers better advice on how to manage them most effectively.

In this volume, he focuses on a subject of immediate, indeed urgent importance to anyone now encountering difficulties with managing their lives. More specifically, those who are dissatisfied with their work because it fails to satisfy and/or support them. This book is NOT about finding another job. "When you look for a [in italics] job, you are looking for something that is fading from the socioeconomic picture because it is past its evolutionary prime." Bridges goes on to explain, "This book is a do-it-yourself career development program....[Rather than seek a job,] a better course of action is to find work that that actually needs doing and present yourself to whoever needs it as the best way to get it done." Bridges offers a practical path toward locating such work and then securing the best terms and conditions by which to do it.

He introduces an acronym when developing a key concept in this book: D.A.T.A. (Desires, Abilities, Temperament, and Assets). Thereby, he effectively stresses the importance of

* Doing what you REALLY want to do

* Developing the skills needed to ensure success as well as satisfaction while doing it

* Doing what you REALLY want to do

* Developing the skills needed to ensure success as well as satisfaction while doing it

* Having an appropriate temperament for the given vocation

* Recognizing and leveraging the assets you need (some of which you may already possess)

In Part One, Bridges explains (a) how and why the workplace is now changing, (b) why traditional jobs no longer fit this world and why companies are abandoning them, and finally (c) what the alternatives to jobs are. In Part Two, he explains how to "mine" D.A.T.A. Then in Part Three, he shifts his and the reader's attention to locating appropriate opportunities, creating her or his "product," running her or his "microbusiness," formulating a plan, and then implementing it.

Think of this book as a "map" which you will need to complete successfully your journey to the destination you seek, whatever and wherever it may be. The value of this "map" is increased substantially by the questions, checklists, inventories, exercises, and related activities which Bridges provides at the end of each chapter. Obviously, a map is not a transportation vehicle. It guides and informs sound decisions but does not make them. It indicates the nature and extent of whatever fuel may be needed but does not provide it. It remains for the "traveler" ("pilgrim"?) to commit sufficient intelligence and energy to the journey. Extending the metaphor further, I also presume to suggest that Bridges expects his reader to be the DRIVER of this difficult but necessary process, not merely a passenger who passively reads his book and nods with approval without taking the requisite initiatives.

In essence, this is a book about life management. Oh sure, it will help many to find more rewarding work, rewarding in terms of both satisfaction and income. But if I understand Bridges' key ideas, then I am correct when asserting that his ideas offer guidance to personal fulfillment. Those who share my high regard for Creating You & Co. are urged to check out David Whyte's The Heart Aroused, Phillip C. McGraw's Self Matters, and Stephen M. Pollan and Mark Levine's Fire Your Boss.Having an appropriate temperament for the given vocation

* Recognizing and leveraging the assets you need (some of which you may already possess)

In Part One, Bridges explains (a) how and why the workplace is now changing, (b) why traditional jobs no longer fit this world and why companies are abandoning them, and finally (c) what the alternatives to jobs are. In Part Two, he explains how to "mine" D.A.T.A. Then in Part Three, he shifts his and the reader's attention to locating appropriate opportunities, creating her or his "product," running her or his "microbusiness," formulating a plan, and then implementing it.

Think of this book as a "map" which you will need to complete successfully your journey to the destination you seek, whatever and wherever it may be. The value of this "map" is increased substantially by the questions, checklists, inventories, exercises, and related activities which Bridges provides at the end of each chapter. Obviously, a map is not a transportation vehicle. It guides and informs sound decisions but does not make them. It indicates the nature and extent of whatever fuel may be needed but does not provide it. It remains for the "traveler" ("pilgrim"?) to commit sufficient intelligence and energy to the journey. Extending the metaphor further, I also presume to suggest that Bridges expects his reader to be the DRIVER of this difficult but necessary process, not merely a passenger who passively reads his book and nods with approval without taking the requisite initiatives.

In essence, this is a book about personal development and life management. Oh sure, it will help many to find more rewarding work, rewarding in terms of both satisfaction and income. But if I understand Bridges' key ideas, then I am correct when asserting that his ideas offer guidance to personal fulfillment. Those who share my high regard for Creating You & Co. are urged to check out David Whyte's The Heart Aroused, Phillip C. McGraw's Self Matters, and Stephen M. Pollan and Mark Levine's Fire Your Boss.

Creating You & Co. gives an easy to digest 'heads up' to the post-industrial job shift already in progress. For anyone looking to reinvent or rebuild their career you will find this book a must read. In chapters 3 to 6, you'll learn the importance of identifying what resources (skills, assets, desires and temperament) you bring to You & Co. and how that influences what business you should be in. I especially liked chapters 7 & 8. William Bridges outlines ways to find potential markets, identify their unmet needs and create a product to meet those needs.

I found the book and exercises first, enlightening then very empowering. What I found to be invaluable is that although I have no entrepreneurial plans in the immediate future thinking of myself as CEO of my career has allowed me to see my role in my current organization differently. And as a result has given me the impetus to initiate changes that are mutually beneficial. This book has definitely helped me put things in perspective; maybe it will help you too.

Its not another "how to" on finding a job or starting your own business -- rather, its an eye-opening look at how the business world has changed in recent years. Bridges points out that each of us is ultimately working for ourselves, providing our talents & services to others. This is true for those who work in a company or on their own -- we have to think like independent agents, not play the old "follow the leader" mentality. The writing is very well organized, and there are a number of useful exercises and self-evaluations included. I would recommend this to anyone who works for a living and wants a clearer idea of how to chart their course in today's uneasy economic environment.

"Creating You & Co." helps you to refocus on who you are, what you have to offer, and how the work place is changing(dejobbing). This book provides excellent guidance in allowing you "to position yourself not as a job applicant" but as the CEO of a small corporation (You & Co.) with valuable services/assets/products that other companies need. If College Career Centers used this book it would positively change the way they advise students preparing to enter the workforce. The book also serves as a road map which leads to a new way of thinking about work(it should be satisfying to you),the job market/work place, and how we fit in.

I'm a big proponent of the "CEO of your own career" outlook, so I was eager to sink my teeth into this book. What I found were many pages of rather dry theory and not so interesting self-evaluations. I had all but given up on this book when I finally reached the last three or so chapters...good stuff! The chapter entitled "Running Your Microbusiness" should be read by any professional person. Those last chapters are more than worth the price of admission! I'd give the first part of the book (at best) two stars...five stars for the last part of the book. My suggestion is to skip the first hundred pages or so.

For anyone who makes a major investment of time, money, and energy in a college education, this reading is for you. I have been using this book with 3rd year university students who are on the cusp of searching for JOBS. Briges support for the notion that JOBS are not the best way of getting work done is a great starting point for people seeking career direction. The advise in the book is supported with exercises and activities that are simple to execute yet loaded with action steps for constructing an individual career plan.
Still seeking a life's calling or a sense of purpose in the work that YOU choose to do? I would highly recommend that you start with this book.

Excellent book: highly useful, thought-provoking, very readable. Sets the stage for the topic, then gives you practical examples and things to do to take the topic further on your own. I was really impressed. One of the best in its field. Apparently Bridges' other books are very good too. This is the first one I'd read.

The traditional organization of work, since the age of the Industrial Revolution, in which work is parceled out into permanent jobs is coming to an end, says the author. More and more, people today work on temporary projects in teams, either as part-time workers or as contractors from outside organizations. There are six fundamental forces today that are changing the way people work, says the author.

1. Knowledge work: This work is hard to divide into distinct, repetitive tasks, and usually ad-hoc project teams are more effective.
2. Technology: Information technology is making it easier for people to do their work anywhere, anytime.
3. The rapid pace of change: Traditional jobs aren't flexible enough to keep up with the rapid pace of change in today's business climate.
4. Management initiatives: New management initiatives from reengineering to TQM have created greater flexibility in companies and eroded the rigid, job-based structure.
5. Unbundled organizations: To enhance organizational flexibility, management has been breaking up the traditional, integrated organization into its component activities.
6. The baby boomers: The individualism of the baby boom generation, currently dominating the work force, has led them to seek work outside of traditional job roles.

In this changing business climate, you must find work, not a job. To find work, it is necessary to seek unmet needs and create solutions for them. Companies aren't looking for a resume anymore. Instead they are looking for a new set of criteria, that Bridges has grouped under the acronym DATA: Desires, Abilities, Temperament and Assets. In this new workplace you must position yourself as someone whose "DATA" enables you to solve problems and get things done.