Less is more

The Elephant and the Flea
Charles Handy
Hutchinson
£17.99
CBD Stock No: 3364
Pages: 233

This is a great book, particularly relevant for people like me who have recently left the elephant (big organisation) to become a flea (an independent) - or for those thinking about doing so. The Elephant and the Flea also links to Chris Blythe's comments in the January/ February issue of Contact about the difference between employment and self-employment, and fits the current raised awareness on life/work balance and the Respect for People debate.

Charles Handy is one of the UK's foremost management gurus. His books have sold over a million copies around the world. He's probably best known for his Thought For the Day on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. In his time he's been an oil executive, a business economist and a professor at the London Business School. Since 1981, however, he has been a flea, working as a business adviser, broadcaster, public speaker, writer and assistant to his photographer wife during the spring and summer months of the year.

This book is about his life as an almost accidental business executive and then as an independent. He describes how his Irish religious upbringing, schooling and relationship with his father shaped his approach to business and life. He also delves into how corporate life in big companies has changed from being characterised as colonial monopolies to ultra-competitive private and public organisations.

The best section of the book for me is where he tells of his time and approach to the independent life (the flea). Here he describes his portfolio existence: the stark contrast between freedom and loneliness and the concept of earning just enough. He is passionate about his work and his entire life is about work, though not in the traditional sense. His time is split into four kinds of work: study work (learning and growing), paid work, gift work (for charities) and homework (family, hobbies, holidays and house chores). "Time is arranged to do as little paid work as possible in order to leave the maximum amount for the other work."

There is a short section on the various forms of capitalism throughout the world. Though this is fairly interesting, it seems out of place in what is a very personal book.

The subtitle of the book is Looking Backwards to the Future. Handy considers the dramatic changes business has undergone in the last 40 years viewed through his own life experiences and he extrapolates how it might be in the future. In his vision he sees most of us working as independent fleas with a portfolio of many customers. At this level business is more personal: customers are won and retained through trust and confidence in delivery. Handy's teaching is based on a mixture of common sense, personal values and spirituality. If his vision is to come true for many, and I believe it will, then Handy provides an excellent role model and this book is a great starting point.

The Elephant and the Flea is beautifully written and presented. Its appearance is crisp and uncluttered and the typeface is easy to read. A comprehensive index lets you get back quickly to that little gold nugget of insight.