Lab Rats
Why Modern Work Makes People Miserable
Published on 1. August 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-78649-394-1 (ISBN)
Description
Guardian's Best Non-Fiction, 2019
The Tablet's Highlights of 2019
Personality tests. Team-building exercises. Forced Fun. Desktop surveillance. Open-plan offices. Acronyms. Diminishing job security. Hot desking. Pointless perks. Hackathons.
If any of the above sound familiar, welcome to the modern economy. In this hilarious, but deadly serious book, bestselling author Dan Lyons looks at how the world of work has slowly morphed from one of unions and steady career progression to a dystopia made of bean bags and unpaid internships. And that's the 'good' jobs...
With the same wit that made Disrupted an international bestseller, Lyons shows how the hypocrisy of Silicon Valley has now been exported globally to a job near you. Even low-grade employees are now expected to view their jobs with a cult-like fervour, despite diminishing prospects of promotion. From the gig economy to the new digital oligarchs, Lyons deliciously roasts the new work climate, while asking what can be done to recoup some sanity and dignity for the expanding class of middle-class serfs.
The Tablet's Highlights of 2019
Personality tests. Team-building exercises. Forced Fun. Desktop surveillance. Open-plan offices. Acronyms. Diminishing job security. Hot desking. Pointless perks. Hackathons.
If any of the above sound familiar, welcome to the modern economy. In this hilarious, but deadly serious book, bestselling author Dan Lyons looks at how the world of work has slowly morphed from one of unions and steady career progression to a dystopia made of bean bags and unpaid internships. And that's the 'good' jobs...
With the same wit that made Disrupted an international bestseller, Lyons shows how the hypocrisy of Silicon Valley has now been exported globally to a job near you. Even low-grade employees are now expected to view their jobs with a cult-like fervour, despite diminishing prospects of promotion. From the gig economy to the new digital oligarchs, Lyons deliciously roasts the new work climate, while asking what can be done to recoup some sanity and dignity for the expanding class of middle-class serfs.
Reviews / Votes
Fascinating, thought-provoking, hilarious and sometimes harrowing. * Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project * A lively and spirited takedown... Its core argument is surely irrefutable. * Guardian * Entertaining * The Economist * Lyons is very funny journalist... Much of his polemic rings true. * Financial Times * Lab Rats defies easy description. I sputtered laughing and choked crying (literally, not figuratively) as I read it. Yes, Lyons gives Silicon Valley the thrashing that it, alas, largely deserves. But in the final third of the book, he offers us an effectively illustrated way out - an approach to work and business that puts people first. * Tom Peters, bestselling author of In Search of Excellence * Entertaining... A worthwhile and disturbing read. * Sunday Business Post * Funny and frightening. * The Sunday Post * Skewering corporate jargon, management science and, worst of all, enforced fun, Lyons' waggish jeremiad lays out how the world of work has changed for the worse. * Tatler * Laugh-out-loud funny * Newsweek on DISRUPTED *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
270 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78649-394-1 (9781786493941)
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
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2019
Atlantic Books
€9.99
Available for download
Person
Dan Lyons is an author, journalist, and screenwriter. He has co-produced and written for the HBO series Silicon Valley, was technology editor at Newsweek and was the creator of the groundbreaking viral blog "The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs" (AKA "Fake Steve Jobs").
Content
1: Unhappy in Paradise 2: The New Oligarchs 3: A Very Brief History of Management Science (and Why You Shouldn't Trust It) 4: Who's Afraid of Silicon Valley? 5: Building the Workforce of the Future (or: Sorry, You're Old and We'd Like You to Leave) 6: Money: "Garbage at the Speed of Light" 7: Insecurity: "We're a Team, not a Family" 8: Change: "What Happens if You Live Inside a Hurricane that Never Ends?" 9: Dehumanization: "Think of Yourself as a Machine Within a Machine" 10: The Battle for the Soul of Work 11: Basecamp: Back to Basics 12: Managed by Q: "Everybody Cleans" 13: Kapor Capital: Conscious Capitalists 14: The Social Enterprise Movement Epilogue: Can Zebras Fix What Unicorns Have Broken?