Like Neo from the Matrix who, once he takes the red pill, can never unknow what he discovers, I found the book Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Guide to the Real World (Buckingham, M., & Goodall, A., 2019, Harvard Business Review Press) challenges many ‘settled truths’ of business such that the reader can never think about them in the same way.
This book exposes 9 misconceptions or myths that are pushed on employees as current practices, which do not have any substance to support their ongoing practice. For some unknown reason, there are so many practices that businesses adopt because they are just accepted as ‘settled truths’, and yet these ‘truths’ just don’t have the evidence or outcomes to substantiate their continued use. A few examples of the lies they dismantle:
- People care which company they work for
- People need feedback
- Work-life balance matters most
- Leadership is a thing
The authors bring strong professional and academic backgrounds to the book, with very sound research that has been proven in the workplace. Their survey involved 19,346 employees across 19 countries to support their assertions in the book.
The book is very well organised and well written. While it is easy to read, it is one of the most challenging I have read in a while as it has made me rethink a number of things I took for granted. I highly recommend the book for any leader or aspiring leader. But remember, once you have read it, you will never look at those 9 issues the same way again.