Review
Included in the Financial Times's Best Books of 2022: Business
“Gratton seeks out real-world examples of how innovative employers, from Fujitsu to HSBC, are creating and managing hybrid and flexible working. With characteristic verve, she lays out four practical steps towards reshaping your business for the imminent arrival of the future of work.”
—Financial Times, “Best Books of 2022: Business”
"After the extraordinary changes of the pandemic, Lynda Gratton’s rigorous new study makes clear we should not leave the future of work to chance...Redesigning Work is very much a how-to guide, with practical frameworks and examples. The rigour and discipline Gratton brings to the book might surprise those who haven’t been involved in organisational change. The message is clear: don’t leave the future of work to chance."
—The Financial Times
"Unlike many of the instant experts on this subject, Gratton has a deep understanding of the topic, built through careful research. And she understands both the good and the bad of the pandemic experience. Yes, we accelerated our digital skills, we learned the value of flexibility of time and place, and in some cases we learned to better respect the “off” switch. But we also saw strong ties strengthen while weak ties weakened. And we were forced to confront the critical importance of human connections."
—Fortune
"In her latest book, Redesigning Work: How to Transform Your Organization and Make Hybrid Work for Everyone, Gratton outlines a four-step process that builds off her two realizations outlined above. They just might help you successfully redesign and change your workplace...it’s part playbook, part guide, and part community. In sum, a thorough compendium to help you—once and for all—to redesign work."
—Forbes
"Gratton's book lays out a four-step process to help companies understand the challenges they are facing, imagine new approaches, test those ideas, and execute them."
—Bloomberg News
Review
“A remarkably thoughtful and practical guide to rethinking how work gets done. Perhaps the only thing we know for sure is that the workplace of the future is a moving target that will continue to come into focus in the coming years, influenced by many voices and many factors. With Gratton’s help, this journey can be far more systematic and rewarding than it would otherwise be.”
—Amy C. Edmondson, Professor, Harvard Business School; author of The Fearless Organization
“Thought-provoking, deeply researched, and invaluable, this fascinating book will help you build, lead, and guide your organization through this time of extraordinary change.”
—Gary Hamel, management expert and founder of Strategos
“An intelligent, deeply thoughtful book that will walk you through the choices that will be critical to your people’s future happiness and well-being and, by extension, to your organization’s performance. Lynda Gratton’s sharp new book gives us a practical approach to parsing out the choices that will work in our unique situations.”
—Rita McGrath, best-selling author and professor at Columbia Business School
“Lynda Gratton’s broad approach to researching the many ways we live and work (beyond the tech paradigm of remote work) is now the likely key to stabilizing our path to the future. Redesigning Work will be a hit.”
—John Maeda, executive, designer, and technologist; author of The Laws of Simplicity
“Lynda’s book couldn’t come at a better time as every CEO and their senior team grapple with the future of work. It’s unlikely that companies will immediately know the best way to change, which is why Lynda’s practical advice will be highly valued by the business world. I am very excited by the possibility of a better working world and I think this book provides excellent advice as we attempt to build it!”
—Ann Cairns, Vice Chair, Mastercard
“Redesigning Workseizes the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rethink not only where work takes place (virtual, hybrid) but also who works (changing demographics), what we do (evolving tasks), how we work (collaboration), and why we work (purpose and impact). Gratton draws on her extensive experience and expertise to create a well-honed field guide and four-step process that will guide you and your teams to thrive in the future as it rapidly emerges and morphs. Redesigning Work is the ultimate guide for those of us championing team human.”
—Heather E. McGowan, future of work strategist and keynote speaker; author of The Adaptation Advantage
“Redesigning Work is an invaluable guidebook for every leader and organization, with its practical frameworks and can-do examples of how to apply bold thinking on where and when work gets done. The author shows how to increase human potential at work, reimagining a future of work that attracts the workers of the future. This is a must-read for every leader interested in seizing post-pandemic opportunities by unleashing their human capital in new ways!”
—Jonas Prising, Chairman and CEO, ManpowerGroup
“I have always been struck by Lynda’s vast thinking about the future of work. Lynda’s broad approach to researching the many ways we live and work (beyond the tech paradigm of remote work) is now the likely key to stabilizing our path to the future. Redesigning Work will be a hit.”
—John Maeda, executive, designer, and technologist; author of The Laws of Simplicity
“Everyone is talking about the future of work. This book provides practical insight on how to respond to challenges such as automation and working from home with examples from organizations around the world. Indispensable reading for everyone interested in how we will work in the future.”
—Minouche Shafik, Director, London School of Economics; author of What We Owe Each Other
“Lynda Gratton uses the insight that the pandemic has already shaken us out of our old ways of working to show us how to use this opportunity to fix many problems with the way we work now. An extremely timely and useful book.”
—Peter Cappelli, author of The Future of the Office: Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face
“Lynda Gratton has increasingly set herself apart from the pack, and she is now the lead thinker helping us interpret the changing face of business. This is a book that has helped summarize the changed world we face, and also to make sense of it.”
—Bruce Daisley, best-selling author and former Vice President of Twitter
“We are going through a period of extraordinary change: technology, climate, and social. Working practices will change profoundly and the impact on working habits will be significant, affecting every employee and employer. This is a must-read for both, as Lynda’s book helps us think through the implications.”
—Lord Mervyn Davies of Abersoch, former CEO and Chairman of Standard Chartered
“A book that the ‘future of work’ has been waiting for. Lynda Gratton’s Redesigning Work is not only chock full of astute insights and crystal-clear realities but also contains a purposeful playbook to right so much of what has gone wrong in our workplaces.”
—Dan Pontefract, leadership strategist and best-selling author of Lead. Care. Win. and Flat Army
“This is a hugely insightful and timely guide for everyone challenged about how to redesign work in a thoroughly reimagined future. The strong focus on people, talent, and potential is particularly valuable. This overall rigorous approach can work for organizations of any operational size, scale, or sector.”
—Dame Mary Marsh, non-executive director, HSBC Bank, and member of the governing body, London Business School
“Redesigning work is complex and extremely challenging. Drawing on decades of research and practice, and very timely current case studies, Gratton provides a tour de force treatment of a mission-critical issue for organizations everywhere.”
—Alec Levenson, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Effective Organizations, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California
“Immediately applicable recommendations for organizations and, more importantly, people to redesign a better way of working together. A must-read.”
—Selina Millstam, VP and Global Head of Talent Management, Ericsson
“The future of work is an active and crucial discussion in organizations around the world. Lynda’s book is a brilliant provocation to help challenge perceptions, habits, and priorities, and to help us all create workplaces that provide good work that benefits individuals, businesses, and the economy.”
—Andy Briggs, Group CEO, Phoenix Group, and former chair, ABI
“Wow! Lynda Gratton has done it again! With extraordinary insights, captivating stories, and relevant tools, she has characterized the future of work. Her four-step logic and sixteen actions will be a blueprint for any individual and organization folding the future into the present.”
—Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; Partner, The RBL Group
Best books of 2022, Business, Financial Times
About the Author
Lynda Gratton is Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School and Founder of the consultancy practice HSM Advisory. For over a decade she has been ranked among the top management thinkers globally by Thinkers50. She is the author of ten books, including The Shift, The Key, and with Andrew J. Scott, The 100-Year Life and The New Long Life.
