Free
Agent Nation: How America's New Independent Workers Are
Transforming the Way We Live
by Daniel H. Pink
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 © 2001 by Daniel H. Pink
Excerpt posted with permission from http://www.twbookmark.com
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Bookmark (Little, Brown & Company, Warner Books, A Time Warner
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