Fully Connected
Surviving and Thriving in an Age of Overload
Published on 20. April 2017
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-4729-2684-5 (ISBN)
Description
Shortlisted for the CMI's Management Book of the Year Award 2018 and the Business Book Awards 2018
Twenty-five years after the arrival of the Internet, we are drowning in data and deadlines. Humans and machines are in fully connected overdrive - and starting to become entwined as never before. Truly, it is an Age of Overload. We can never have imagined that absorbing so much information while trying to maintain a healthy balance in our personal and professional lives could feel so complex, dissatisfying and unproductive.
Something is missing. That something, Julia Hobsbawm argues in this ground-breaking book, is Social Health, a new blueprint for modern connectedness. She begins with the premise that much of what we think about healthy ways to live have not been updated any more than have most post-war modern institutions, which are themselves also struggling in the twenty-first century. In 1946, the World Health Organization defined 'health' as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.' What we understood by 'social' in the middle of the last century now desperately needs an update.
In Fully Connected Julia Hobsbawm takes us on a journey - often a personal one, 'from Telex to Twitter' - to illustrate how the answer to the Age of Overload can come from devising management-based systems which are both highly practical and yet intuitive, and which draw inspiration from the huge advances the world has made in tackling other kinds of health, specifically nutrition, exercise, and mental well-being.
Drawing on the latest thinking in health and behavioural economics, social psychology, neuroscience, management and social network analysis, this book provides a cornucopia of case studies and ideas, to educate and inspire a new generation of managers, policymakers and anyone wanting to navigate through the rough seas of overload.
Twenty-five years after the arrival of the Internet, we are drowning in data and deadlines. Humans and machines are in fully connected overdrive - and starting to become entwined as never before. Truly, it is an Age of Overload. We can never have imagined that absorbing so much information while trying to maintain a healthy balance in our personal and professional lives could feel so complex, dissatisfying and unproductive.
Something is missing. That something, Julia Hobsbawm argues in this ground-breaking book, is Social Health, a new blueprint for modern connectedness. She begins with the premise that much of what we think about healthy ways to live have not been updated any more than have most post-war modern institutions, which are themselves also struggling in the twenty-first century. In 1946, the World Health Organization defined 'health' as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.' What we understood by 'social' in the middle of the last century now desperately needs an update.
In Fully Connected Julia Hobsbawm takes us on a journey - often a personal one, 'from Telex to Twitter' - to illustrate how the answer to the Age of Overload can come from devising management-based systems which are both highly practical and yet intuitive, and which draw inspiration from the huge advances the world has made in tackling other kinds of health, specifically nutrition, exercise, and mental well-being.
Drawing on the latest thinking in health and behavioural economics, social psychology, neuroscience, management and social network analysis, this book provides a cornucopia of case studies and ideas, to educate and inspire a new generation of managers, policymakers and anyone wanting to navigate through the rough seas of overload.
Reviews / Votes
I thoroughly enjoyed Fully Connected. Amazing insights on a subject critical to modern working and living. I wholly endorse it, not just as a must-read but also as a much-needed compass to navigating the 21st century workplace. -- Dambisa Moyo, Economist and Author Julia Hobsbawm is the unofficial UK Queen of Networking, but she understands that networking is about much more than lunches and parties. As a student of networks in history, I read Fully Connected with great pleasure and profit. -- Niall Ferguson, senior fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University Brimming with ideas and insights - fascinating, intriguing, thoughtful. -- Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice, London Business School I am buzzing about this book. Really outstanding. -- William Eccleshare, President and CEO, Clear Channel International This is one of those brilliantly insightful books everyone has to read to understand the zeitgeist. -- Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Principal, Mansfield College Oxford Fully Connected is the most profound book about connectivity published this century. Hobsbawm nails it. She's the Marshall McLuhan of our always-on age. -- Andrew Keen, author of 'Digital Vertigo' and 'The Internet is Not The Answer' Julia Hobsbawm reminds us that social media and social networks are about human connections not technology. She wants us to see that stilling the shrill voices of tech will connect us better. Fully Connected is a very good read. -- Stephan Chambers, The Marshall Institute, London School of Economics Julia Hobsbawm's potent mix of practical advice and fresh academic insight is the book for any thoughtful executive, hard-pressed or otherwise. -- Stephen Barber, Equity partner, Pictet Group; Global Chair, Prix Pictet A great read, which provides fascinating insights into how connectivity is changing our lives and how we can thrive in a Fully Connected world. -- Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford Our social networks are both huge opportunities and lurking dangers, depending on how we manage them. Julia Hobsbawm's stellar new book, Fully Connected, pinpoints their pervasive effects on what and who we know, what jobs we get, our political views, our health and wellbeing, and more - and then tells us to improve our social health. A must-read for individuals and policy makers alike. -- Professor Herminia Ibarra, INSEADMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
537 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4729-2684-5 (9781472926845)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Julia Hobsbawm OBE is a leading expert on connectedness in modern life. A prominent entrepreneur, media commentator and international speaker for corporate audiences, she has emerged as a leading voice on the future of workplace productivity practices, particularly around Social Health, and how scientific network patterns underpin much of what we do on a daily basis. She became the world's first Professor in Networking in 2011 and is Hon Visiting Professor at Cass Business School in London and at the University of Suffolk. She was awarded an OBE in The Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2015.
Content
Introduction: Peak Connection
Part One: The Way to Wellville
1. Hostile Landscapes
2. Fitness as a metaphor
3. New hierarchies of need
Part Two: The Blended Self
4. The social soul
5. Worker beings
6. Networks and networkers
Conclusion: The fully connected future
Appendix
Postscript
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
Part One: The Way to Wellville
1. Hostile Landscapes
2. Fitness as a metaphor
3. New hierarchies of need
Part Two: The Blended Self
4. The social soul
5. Worker beings
6. Networks and networkers
Conclusion: The fully connected future
Appendix
Postscript
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index