Customer Reviews

When Work Doesn't Work Anymore: Women, Work, and Identity

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an executive coach and psychologist, I have provided this book to several of my clients. The overwhelming feedback is positive. Many have changed their lives (or at least their perspectives about work) as a result of further exploring the themes in this text. Most comment -- "I am not alone. Many people feel the way I feel." This book should be a business best seller. My hats off to the author for her research.

I knew something was wrong - for years I "played the game" in Corporate America, but it was no longer enough. I read McKenna's book one Friday night...there it was in black & white...the validation of all I was feeling. That weekend I mourned the loss of a life that had become all-consuming, and began the journey to build a better life. It took 4 months and much soul searching, but I resigned from my high powered, Fortune 500 company position, and am now well on my way to the life I always dreamed about. I've sent copies of the book to all my stressed-out, "there must be a better way" girlfriends in Corporate America. It's a must read if you've ever wondered "at what price, success?"

I had a baby in early 1997 and have been struggling since then with juggling my high-powered executive level job with my family and my own needs. This book was the catalyst in my life for making a change to a low-pressure, individual contributor job which allows me to flex my hours on a daily basis and doesn't penalize me for wanting a life outside of work. My next step is to go to part time work, which is what will really fit with my goals for my life. I would never have taken the risk of jumping off the fast track if I hadn't read this book

As I read this book, it occurred to me that Ms. McKenna seems only to be talking to women like herself who apparently come from upper class, successful families, and who have had great educations and connections to hit the ground running with promising, fast-track jobs. Had she been an immigrant, or someone from a less privileged background, she may have been a little less whiney. I was annoyed with paragraph after paragrph of "we" grew up believing this, and "we" went to school and learned that, and "we" entered the work force and accomplished this. I'm about the same age as McKenna and female, and that sure wasn't my experience. After working my way through college in a paper mill, I finally got a job-- slinging hash! So when I finally landed a job in New York City and started my own meteoric rise, I was probably a little more mercenary. I was in it for the money. PERIOD. I had no illusions about getting satisfaction for my soul with (hello?) corporate life! McKenna just seems naive to me. A poor little rich girl.

At the risk of sounding like a 60s radical, doesn't she know that corporations --and our capitalistic society-- is based on the exploitation of people and other organizations? Of course you're unhappy at the end of the day! My advice: Make as much money as you can, then get out before they steal your soul!

Finally, and one of my biggest issues with this book, is-- Why does she target this book & her ideas toward women? Men can feel the same dissatisfaction that the author does, and would probably like to chuck it all as much as she does. They just don't whine about it as much as McKenna. She does the battle for equality of the sexes a disservice by defining this as a "women's problem" and by moaning that corporate life is only for men with wives who will keep the home fires burning.

While I think the book does a good job of describing how some women feel in the workplace, I felt it took a little long to get to what to do about it. Success, power and money are the rules of the current workplace whether it's women or men working in it. Ms. Mckenna in the last chapter gets to what really needs to be done - we all need to decide for ourselves what success is and have the courage to go for it, no matter what society or our parents told us.

A gold star to Ms. McKenna for identifying a real and significant source of malaise for many working women. We choose to commit our all to our job. Then, after so many years, disappointments and fatigue with the politics and personalities accrue to the point where we look around and decide we want more out of our lives.

Two lumps of coal. One, because nearly everything she writes should apply equally to men yet she addresses the book to women. Second, because practically the only answer she provides is to quit, as she did. (And write a book about it?). I would much have preferred interviews with people who dramatically enriched their jobs, and their lives, without quitting. How did they go about it? Where did they look for answers? What did they give up? What should change in the work place?

As a manager, I'm particularly interested in whether companies will respond to this kind of need - for different responsibilities, perhaps, or retraining, or sabbaticals.

Amongst a historical and social backdrop, Elizabeth McKenna tells her personal story about choices she made in an effort to balance her career and family. She illustrates the diverse choices and experiences of other women to make her point that all working people are asking a similar question about their careers---is this worth the personal sacrifice---despite marital status, being parents or non-parents, race, and/or age.

This book goes further to make suggestions for making changes to the old corporate environment that has such a strong hold on who we are and what is expected of us. Traditionally, women have been the "caregivers" but more and more men are asking for many of the same things women want in the world of work.

As the subtitle suggests, McKenna discusses how social expectations can have an impact upon our identity as women [playing by men's rules in the corporate world], wives and/or mothers.

I found "When Work Doesn't Work Anymore" compelling due to my desire to stop the chaos in my life and spend more time doing what I believe is most important. McKenna summarized what I had been feeling during the past four years working in a super conservative environment with little pay-off.

This is not a anti-feminist book. McKenna does not advocate leaving work as the only means of solving inner turmoil or balancing many roles. Rather, she explores radical and moderate changes people have made and how those changes contributed in both positive and negative ways to how they feel about themselves and their approach to work.

If anything, McKenna poses thought-provoking questions and maintains that holding to one's personal values is the best choice.

Somewhere along the line I forgot I had a choice. I don't know how it happened, but it did. Maybe it was the money, or the benefits, or simply the fact that I've achieved five-weeks vacation and a pension. Perhaps it was that I have a loving husband who enjoyed listening to my Dilbertish stories each evening. Well, enough is enough. I'm tired of working in a cartoon strip. At the end of the day I want to feel more than just drained. If my husband needs Dilbert, I'll suggest he read the comics.

Great. So, you do as Ms. Perle McKenna did and leave the rat race. Her story ends there. Or does it? In her next book, her husband leaves her and she actually has to make a living for herself... a real living, not the "second income" that a wife of a wealthy man can afford to bring in.

This is an interesting book which I enjoyed, but I have to say that it seems like many of the ideas found in here apply to only a lucky few...

This is a wonderful review of women in the workplace, the frustrations we face, and the history which has led us here. It's a source of comfort as women discover the underlying reasons of their struggle in managing home, self, and work. The only disappointment in this book is, as there is no easy answer and as we are all very different, the solution to this turmoil is vague. That said, When Work Doesn't Work is a great way to get you thinking about how to change your situation and hopefully enjoy (or atleast understand) you relationship with work.