The Elephant and the Flea: Reflections of a Reluctant Capitalist

The latest book from the author of Understanding Organizations and The Age of Unreason offers a memoir of his work life over the past few decades, and now says that the "world we are entering is increasingly the world of the individual, of choice and risk." In the past, huge organizations, what Handy calls "elephants," dominated the work landscape. While they often gave employees lifetime security, there was less room for freedom or creativity. Now all of that is changing. Increasingly, the world of work consists of independent players, "fleas," who jump from job to job. Handy observes that while the elephants get much of the press attention, most people actually work as fleas or for a flea organization. Handy assigns the fate of the flea to nearly all of us: "We can live at least three lives in one lifetime, and one of them will, I am sure, have to be the life of a flea." With references ranging from General Electric to William Gibson, The Elephant and the Flea contains many insights on the past, present, and future of capitalism. Readers will find intriguing ideas about what the world of many more fleas and fewer (but grander) elephants will be like.