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Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work 1st Edition
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If you only read one book on the future of work, Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work should be that book.
The future of work swept in sooner than expected, accelerated by Covid-19, creating an urgent need for new maps, new mindsets, new strategies-- and most importantly, a trusted guide to take us on this journey. That guide is Jeff Schwartz. A founding partner of Deloitte Consulting’s Future of Work practice, Schwartz brings clarity, humor, wisdom, and practical advice to the future of work, a topic surrounded by misinformation, fear, and confusion. With a fundamental belief in the power of human innovation and creativity, Schwartz presents the key issues, critical choices, and potential pitfalls that must be on everyone’s radar.
- If you're anxious about robots taking away your job in the future, you will take comfort in the realistic perspective, fact-based insights, and practical steps Schwartz offers.
- If you're not sure where to even begin to prepare, follow his level-headed advice and easy-to-follow action plans.
- If you're a business leader caught between keeping up, while also being thoughtful about the next moves, you will appreciate the playbook directed at you.
- If you're wondering how Covid-19 will change how and where you will work, Work Disrupted has you covered.
Written in a conversational style by Schwartz, with Suzanne Riss, an award-winning journalist and book author, Work Disrupted offers a welcome alternative to books on the topic that lack a broad perspective or dwell on the problems rather than offer solutions. Timely and insightful, the book includes the impact of Covid-19 on our present and future work. Interviews with leading thinkers on the future of work offer additional perspectives and guidance.Cartoons created for the book by leading business illustrator Tom Fishburne bring to life the reader’s journey and the complex issues surrounding the topic.
Told from the perspective of an economist, management advisor, and social commentator, Work Disrupted offers hope--and practical advice--exploring such topics as:
How we frame what lies ahead is a critical navigational tool. Discover the signposts that can serve as practical guides for individuals who have families to support, mortgages to pay, and want to stay gainfully employed no matter what the future holds.
The importance of recognizing the rapidly evolving opportunities in front of us. Learn how to build resilience―in careers, organizations, and leaders―for what lies ahead.
Why exploring new mental models helps us discover the steps we need to take to thrive. Individuals can decide how to protect their livelihood while businesses and public institutions can consider how they can lead and support workforces to thrive in twenty-first-century careers and work.
"Jeff's marvelous book is a roadmap for the new world of work with clear signposts. His insights will help readers discover opportunities, take action, and find hope in uncertain times. The ideas are fresh, beautifully crafted, and immediately applicable. This is not only a book to be read, but savored and used."
―Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; Partner, the RBL Group; Co-author Reinventing the Organization
- ISBN-101119762278
- ISBN-13978-1119762270
- Edition1st
- PublisherWiley
- Publication dateJanuary 7, 2021
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions6.2 x 1 x 9.1 inches
- Print length240 pages
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From the Inside Flap
Your ways of working have been disrupted before. You've heard the doom and gloom of a fearful, far-off future when automation will displace you and your coworkers. But you didn't really need to change anything just yet, so you didn't.
Then came the pandemic.
Enter the accelerated future of work. Virtually overnight, companies transitioned in-person employees to remote workers, reorganized rigid structures into nimble teams and networks, moved from cubicles into Zoom chats, and raised diversity to the top of the agenda.
Challenges and opportunities confronted business leaders and employees alike with a sudden impact that would have otherwise taken years to notice. Work Disrupted is the playbook we need now to navigate the future of work, workforces, and workplaces.
Grounded in Jeff Schwartz's research and experience founding and leading Deloitte Consulting's Future of Work practice, the book is packed with actionable strategies to strengthen long-term resilience, coordinate work between your people and machines, make tough choices, and more. It will inspire you with stories of innovation and creative solutions in the face of challenges.
By helping you make sense of today's bewildering changes, this invaluable guide will prepare you for the unprecedented shifts you are experiencing right now and can expect tomorrow.
You'll learn how to blaze new paths, develop the most in-demand capabilities, capitalize on opportunities and adapt your pace and mindset to the new world of work.
The future of work is now. Are you prepared?
From the Back Cover
Your ways of working have been disrupted before. You’ve heard the doom and gloom of a fearful, far-off future when automation will displace you and your coworkers. But you didn’t really need to change anything just yet, so you didn’t.
Then came the pandemic.
Enter the accelerated future of work. Virtually overnight, companies transitioned in-person employees to remote workers, reorganized rigid structures into nimble teams and networks, moved from cubicles into Zoom chats, and raised diversity to the top of the agenda.
Challenges and opportunities confronted business leaders and employees alike with a sudden impact that would have otherwise taken years to notice. Work Disrupted is the playbook we need now to navigate the future of work, workforces, and workplaces.
Grounded in Jeff Schwartz’s research and experience founding and leading Deloitte Consulting’s Future of Work practice, the book is packed with actionable strategies to strengthen long-term resilience, coordinate work between your people and machines, make tough choices, and more. It will inspire you with stories of innovation and creative solutions in the face of challenges.
By helping you make sense of today’s bewildering changes, this invaluable guide will prepare you for the unprecedented shifts you are experiencing right now and can expect tomorrow.
You’ll learn how to blaze new paths, develop the most in-demand capabilities, capitalize on opportunities and adapt your pace and mindset to the new world of work.
The future of work is now. Are you prepared?
About the Author
JEFF SCHWARTZ is the founding partner of Deloitte Consulting’s U.S. Future of Work practice and the global editor since 2011 of its Global Human Capital Trends report. Jeff has led research on the evolution of work, workforces, and workplace practices and advised clients around the world on workforce transformation. A global consultant, Jeff has lived and worked in the United States, India, Russia, Belgium, Kenya, and Israel. A graduate of the Yale School of Management and Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs, Jeff currently resides in New York City.
SUZANNE RISS is a storyteller, content strategist, and the author of two previous books. During her tenure as editor-in-chief of Working Mother, the magazine received four Folio awards for excellence. Her expertise in work/life trends has been tapped for interviews with The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America, and CNN. Suzanne has held marketing and communications roles at JPMorgan Chase and, currently, at Knopman Marks.
TOM FISHBURNE, Illustrator: From a student cartoon strip at Harvard Business School, Tom Fishburne’s Marketoonist cartoon series has grown by word of mouth to reach a few hundred thousand readers a week. Tom draws (literally and figuratively) from 20 years of marketing roles at HotelTonight, Method, General Mills, Nestl??, and his own agency. Tom currently works with businesses to tell stories with cartoons and help drive organizational change through humor.
Product details
- Publisher : Wiley
- Publication date : January 7, 2021
- Edition : 1st
- Language : English
- Print length : 240 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1119762278
- ISBN-13 : 978-1119762270
- Item Weight : 14.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.2 x 1 x 9.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,672,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #446 in Human Resources (Books)
- #983 in Business Management (Books)
- #1,031 in Business & Organizational Learning
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Jeff is a advisor on the future of work to Deloitte Consulting where he is a retired senior partner. He is a recognized global advisor and thought leader and the author of WORK DISRUPTED. Jeff is the Vice President of Insights and Impact at Gloat, the world's leading start up creating enterprsie talent marketplaces driven by AI. He is an adjunct professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Business.
He has been a consulting partner for 25 years and he has extensive experience in workforce and workplace transformation, work redesign, and human capital issues in global and growth markets. He has lived in and led practices in the US, India, Russia, Belgium, Israel and Kenya. He most recently created and led the US Consulting Future of Work research and practice; he is the co-founder and was the US lead partner from 2016-2019 for Deloitte Catalyst in Tel Aviv (the US-Israel Innovation Tech Terminal), and he has been the global editor and senior researcher for 10 years of Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report, one of the world’s leading annual reports on the future of the workforce, organizations and HR, which he started in 2011. He has authored and contributed to more than 40 articles for the Wall Street Journal, the Deloitte Review, the MIT Sloan Management Review, the Rotman Management Review (at the University of Toronto), and Wired Magazine.
Before his career in management consulting, Jeff was a US Peace Corps volunteer teacher in Nepal (1981-1983), a fellow at the RFK Memorial Foundation leading the Youth Policy Institute, an investment banker at Chemical Investment Bank—now part of JPMC (1987-1988), and one of the first US Peace Corps Associate Directors in the Russian Federation (1991-1992).
He has graduate degrees from the Yale School of Management (MBA, 1987) and the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University (MPA, 1987) and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University in History and Government (BA, 1980). Jeff served on the Cornell University Board of Trustees from 1979 to1980.
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Customers find the book to be a valuable guide that provides actionable insights for navigating career challenges. The book is well-written and easy to read.
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Customers find the book valuable as a guide to navigate their careers, providing actionable insights and practical examples.
"With fresh thinking and actionable insights, Jeff challenges readers by asking the right questions rather than telling us the answers...." Read more
"Work Disrupted provides a fresh, practical and up to date insights, solutions and practical examples around the challenges and opportunities that..." Read more
"...I appreciated the thoroughness of the research, quotes from multiple thought leaders, and references to the impact of COVID-19...." Read more
"This is a wonderful book to read on the future of work...." Read more
Customers find the book well-written and easy to read.
"...Enjoyable and well-thought out read. Highly recommended for everyone who is curious and want to contribute on the creation of our Future of Work." Read more
"...While the writing is great - my fav part of the book might be the cartoons by Tom Fishburne that bring the ideas to life and make the book very human." Read more
"'Work Disrupted' is well-written and offers not just theory for you to digest but a tangible playbook for which to apply to numerous (and relevant)..." Read more
"...Great insights, in an easy to read format. This book will help you stay ahead of the trends and see what changes are coming next." Read more
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Well-written, tactical roadmap!
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2021Work Disrupted provides a fresh, practical and up to date insights, solutions and practical examples around the challenges and opportunities that the Future of Work brings to all - organizations, individuals, communities.
It is well structured to understand the dependent dimensions and its implications; how organizations are developing their roadmaps to respond... and interesting questions while we continue our journey through the FoW.
Not only it captures experiences and reflections for several experts - worldwide - it also contains the accelerated changes and impacts due to Covid -19.
Enjoyable and well-thought out read. Highly recommended for everyone who is curious and want to contribute on the creation of our Future of Work.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2021Jeff Schwartz's "Work Disrupted" offers both the ingredients and various recipes you might begin to incorporate into your work diet- starting now. I appreciated the thoroughness of the research, quotes from multiple thought leaders, and references to the impact of COVID-19. The advice to focus on capabilities like curiosity, collaboration and creativity were particular standouts to me. Tom Fisburne's visual cartoons were perhaps one of the best assets of the way this book was written - a picture is definitely worth a thousand words and helped to bring home some of the book's important points. Well done!
- Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2021With fresh thinking and actionable insights, Jeff challenges readers by asking the right questions rather than telling us the answers. At its heart, his book is about seeing new possibilities, making informed choices, and navigating the future by creating the future. Jeff tackles a broad spectrum of the many dimensions of the future of work, providing helpful clarity by sharing the history of how we got here, what opportunities lie ahead of us, and how together we can create a better future for organizations, individuals, and the communities in which we live.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2021The media could not be loaded.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2021The media could not be loaded.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2021This is a wonderful book to read on the future of work. It very adeptly explores all of the opportunities we have with all of the changes underway and provides practical guidance on how we can build long term resilience with a call to reimagine careers, organizations and leadership. An additional bonus is the addition of three helpful playbooks for growth - for individuals, business leaders and citizens and society. I also enjoyed the cartoons!
- Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2021Work Disrupted served as a wonderful guide as I enter the next "stage" in my career. Each chapter raised key questions as I consider the type of work I may doing tomorrow as well as in 10, 20, and 30 years. The section on "meaningful work" was of the utmost relevance as I consider teams, projects, and organizations that align emotionally with my identity. The personal stories and anecdotes throughout make this guide an enjoyable read for all.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2021'Work Disrupted' is well-written and offers not just theory for you to digest but a tangible playbook for which to apply to numerous (and relevant) issues plaguing the workforce and workplace today. Most as a direct-result of COVID. Additionally, the content is via a trusted source--the founder of Future of Work at Deloitte.
5.0 out of 5 stars'Work Disrupted' is well-written and offers not just theory for you to digest but a tangible playbook for which to apply to numerous (and relevant) issues plaguing the workforce and workplace today. Most as a direct-result of COVID. Additionally, the content is via a trusted source--the founder of Future of Work at Deloitte.Well-written, tactical roadmap!
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2021
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
- David MaywaldReviewed in Australia on September 16, 2024
4.0 out of 5 stars Presents multiple different perspectives, for the future of work and for ongoing education
Published in early 2021, amidst the lockdowns and Covid disruption. This 170-page densely-written book contains a synthesis from Jeff’s experiences: as a senior HR consultant; interviews with prominent businesspeople and leaders; recitations from other authors; lots of different perspectives about jobs, workplaces, companies, strategy, and the future…
“The top three skills needed to survive in the future of work are complex problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity”
It does read as a bit dated already, due to missing the post-Covid recalibration. But there’s plenty of material that retains value: careers have changed for many people (more jobs in each lifetime, retraining, portfolios of roles); the education systems need to radically catch-up with the changed nature of business/work; businesses continue to struggle with the incorporation of values and purpose into their mission.
“we will need to increase our expectations for how our educational institutions, governments, and businesses will support these ongoing career reinventions and transitions. Current institutional models will need to adapt and expand to meet the growth and transition needs of lifelong learners and workers.”
Schwartz and his co-author Suzanne Riss, as well as their editors, have certainly called out almost all of the buzzwords: collaboration, resilience, design thinking, agile methodologies, interdisciplinary, behavioural economics, VUCA environments, and AI…
“The challenge we face when working with technology is to use it to augment workers, not replace them.”
There are huge challenges ahead for universities, and other higher educational bodies, to remain relevant. Long degrees that take up several years with static content now appear to be a relic of the ancient past, and students are seeing less value in this format. In fact, more young people are being attracted to start-ups, social enterprise, shorter technical education, and earn-while-you-learn models:
“The people that are incredibly successful today are the people that fall in love with something. Fall in love with the problem, and then go figure out what they need to learn to solve that problem. It’s much more in the flow of work and the flow of passion and much less about applying what you’ve learned.”
Don’t read this book expecting all of the solutions. Read it to understand a broader range of perspectives, which are currently feeding into the challenges that we face.
David MaywaldPresents multiple different perspectives, for the future of work and for ongoing education
Reviewed in Australia on September 16, 2024
“The top three skills needed to survive in the future of work are complex problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity”
It does read as a bit dated already, due to missing the post-Covid recalibration. But there’s plenty of material that retains value: careers have changed for many people (more jobs in each lifetime, retraining, portfolios of roles); the education systems need to radically catch-up with the changed nature of business/work; businesses continue to struggle with the incorporation of values and purpose into their mission.
“we will need to increase our expectations for how our educational institutions, governments, and businesses will support these ongoing career reinventions and transitions. Current institutional models will need to adapt and expand to meet the growth and transition needs of lifelong learners and workers.”
Schwartz and his co-author Suzanne Riss, as well as their editors, have certainly called out almost all of the buzzwords: collaboration, resilience, design thinking, agile methodologies, interdisciplinary, behavioural economics, VUCA environments, and AI…
“The challenge we face when working with technology is to use it to augment workers, not replace them.”
There are huge challenges ahead for universities, and other higher educational bodies, to remain relevant. Long degrees that take up several years with static content now appear to be a relic of the ancient past, and students are seeing less value in this format. In fact, more young people are being attracted to start-ups, social enterprise, shorter technical education, and earn-while-you-learn models:
“The people that are incredibly successful today are the people that fall in love with something. Fall in love with the problem, and then go figure out what they need to learn to solve that problem. It’s much more in the flow of work and the flow of passion and much less about applying what you’ve learned.”
Don’t read this book expecting all of the solutions. Read it to understand a broader range of perspectives, which are currently feeding into the challenges that we face.
Images in this review
- Paul KurchinaReviewed in Canada on January 7, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Your Must Read Book on The Future of Work - The Future is Now
Awesome book. This was the perfect way to jumpstart the new year for me or for anyone. I highly recommend picking up a copy and diving in deeply. So many things resonated with me in this book.
This book could not have been more timely and really put's in context very well our current state and what we need to do as organizations and individuals to not just survive but thrive in todays rapidly changing world.
I could not agree more with the words in Erica Volini's forward to the book “Throughout Work Disrupted, Jeff becomes a twenty-first-century Sherpa, presenting us with the maps we need to thrive in the future of work. Like any great guide, he not only presents us with a view of the destination, but with the guideposts we need to follow along the way. “ Erica Volini
Love the "playbook" that Jeff Schwartz has provided and the cartoons that Tom Fishburne provided throughout the book. Its a book that I spent hours on attentively reading from start to finish in one sitting with a chuckle with each of Tom's cartoon that helped to hit home key points. I have colored up my kindle edition with a lot if highlights to go back to and delve deeper.
Looking forward to re reading the book and leveraging Jeff "the Sherpa" Schwartz's guidance and playbook to help me personally and to help others in 2021 and beyond.