Office and workplace Books

Book SynopsisShortlisted for the CMI Management Books of the Year Awards. An expert on innovation argues that many capable women are losing out at work, and that this harms businesses, individuals, and society. Women now outperform men at every level of education, yet in the workplace they are under-promoted and under-paid. Here, Tom Schuller examines why this happens, and asks what we can do about it. Schuller identifies the five factors which prevent women from achieving their full potential. He argues convincingly that addressing these will not only make society fairer but also make workplaces function more effectively — yet this will only happen if men change their patterns of work and attitudes to careers. This book is required reading for anyone who would like to see the world of work become more dynamic and fulfilling.Trade Review‘Tom Schuller writes candidly on an issue too many men would rather not confront - why working women operate below their level of competence. The glass ceiling in learning is all but shattered. This book brilliantly establishes why now it’s time for the work place.’ -- Jon Snow‘A really interesting book — and an encouraging one, despite its central premise. It provides an absorbing and accessible look at what exactly holds today’s women back — and what we can do about it. The Paula Principle deserves to become an instant classic.’ -- Melissa Benn * author of What Should We Tell Our Daughters? *‘Essential reading for anyone who thinks about the future of work; compelling evidence showing how unions help women and men build alternative working lives; and a powerful argument for radical changes to achieve genuine equality.’ -- Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the TUC‘In a world where women’s work, despite changes in the last decades, is still given less recognition than men's at every level, and where the gap is closing slowly if at all, it lifts the spirits to find Tom Schuller’s thoughtful book analysing with subtlety and elegance why this might be so. He reminds us, as if we needed reminding, that the problem of equality is by no means solved and needs continually to be rethought.’ -- Ursula Owen * founder-director of Virago Press *‘It’s almost 50 years since the Equal Pay Act, women are doing brilliantly in education — and yet gender, and gender inequalities, are still huge issues. The Paula Principle tells us both why and why we should care. It’s a splendid analysis, a fascinating read — and a great way to understand just how differently women, as well as men, experience today’s reality. Just try Schuller’s test on page 230 with yourself and your family.’ -- Alison Wolf (Professor the Baroness Wolf of Dulwich)‘The path to equality thus far has involved women converging on traditionally male employment patterns, Schuller argues: now is the time for men to move towards traditionally female ones — to improve equality and work-life balance, and to make better use of our resources.’ -- Jessica Abrahams * Prospect *‘[Schuller’s] passion for social justice is stamped on every page of a study whose clarity and well researched insights are captivating.’ * Times Higher Education *‘The Paula Principle is an important book. Tom Schuller presents fresh reasons which explain women’s continued disadvantage in the workplace and what can be done about this. The book’s case studies and examples also make the book eminently readable.’ -- Sue Williamson, senior lecturer at School of Business, Australian Defence Force Academy‘Why do women tend to outperform men in education, yet earn less in the labour market? In this important new book, Tom Schuller shows that gender inequity should concern all of us. A society where women work below their level of competence is missing out on the chance to reach its potential. With pithy statistics, fascinating interviews and entertaining literary references, this book explains why the Paula Principle has emerged, and how we might work together to fix it.’ -- Andrew Leigh MP, author of The Economics of Just About Everything

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Book SynopsisHas COVID-19 ushered in the end of the office? Or is it the office’s final triumph? For decades, futurologists have prophesied a boundaryless working world, freed from the cramped confines of the office. During the COVID-19 crisis, employees around the globe got a taste of it. Confined by lockdown to their homes, they met, mingled, collaborated, and created electronically. At length, they returned to something approaching normality. Or had they glimpsed the normal to come? In The Momentous, Uneventful Day, Gideon Haigh reflects on our ambivalent relationship to office work and office life, how we ended up with the offices we have, how they have reflected our best and worst instincts, and how these might be affected by a world in a time of contagion. Like the factory in the nineteenth century, the office was the characteristic building form of the twentieth, reshaping our cities, redirecting our lives. We all have a stake in how it will change in the twenty-first. Enlivened by copious citations from literature, film, memoir, and corporate history, and interspersed with relevant images, The Momentous, Uneventful Day is the ideal companion for a lively current debate about the role offices will play in the future.Trade Review‘In his new book, Gideon Haigh goes beyond the banal exterior of the office and examines how they’ve shaped our cities, culture and collective history … In this deeply researched and engaging analysis, Haigh ponders if this is just a glimpse of things to come.’ * Happy Magazine *‘Haigh recounts the evolution of the office with imagination and fairness, and he can turn a fine phrase when he wants to. The Momentous, Uneventful Day reads like a good story – and it is, for better or worse, the story of our lives.’ -- Derek Parker * Spectator Australia *‘Enlivened by copious citations from literature, film, memoir, and corporate history, and interspersed with relevant images, The Momentous, Uneventful Day is the ideal companion for a lively current debate about the role offices will play in the future.’ * Female.com.au *‘Iridescent … No one is a better guide to the paradoxes of the working at home / being at work pivot … He writes of these matters as they should be written about, with a full sense of their history and the panache of the literature and art they have inspired.’ -- Peter Craven * Sydney Morning Herald *Praise for The Office: a hardworking history: ‘Tracing its history as far back as ancient Egypt (but concentrating on the 20th century), author Gideon Haigh presents a thorough and interesting account of the office over time. His approach is not merely a collection of facts but rather an attempt to understand the office's impact on our culture and society, and vice versa … Haigh is an adept writer — clear, informative … His information is drawn from an astonishingly wide range of sources, including pop culture.’ -- Ian Halett * Books+Publishing *Praise for The Racket: how abortion became legal in Australia: ‘Gideon Haigh is quite simply one of the best – and most intriguing – writers working in Australia today. He is amazingly prolific on a variety of subjects, but entirely consistent in delivering elegant prose that engages thoughtfully with his subject and wears its (often considerable) research lightly.’ -- Jo Case * Readings Monthly *Praise for Asbestos House: the secret history of James Hardie Industries: ‘[A] serious, sombre and, at times, heart-rending account befitting a tragic and awful story … At all times Haigh’s research is impeccable. This is the book’s great strength — it could become the reference book on all matters relating to asbestos.’ -- Matthew Charles * Herald Sun *‘Haigh has produced a very timely book, given the current debate around the role that offices will play in the future.’ * Sunraysia Daily *

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