This book, while covering some of the same ground, is broader, taking aim at one of our best-entrenched and most outdated structures: the three-stage life. The first stage was traditionally spent growing up and getting educated. The second was consumed by working, making money and raising children. The third was spent in retirement ... Not everything the authors try to do comes off. They introduce us to some characters to illustrate their points: Radhika, a college-educated Mumbai freelance worker, Tom, a Dallas truck driver, and others. But they are not fleshed out, so when their names come up it is hard to remember who they are ... And Scott and Gratton chase after so many research papers that their narrative occasionally meanders ... But their argument is robust and their themes sufficiently important to make this book essential reading for policymakers and chief executives.
In The New Long Life: A Framework for Flourishing in a Changing World , London Business School economist Andrew J. Scott and his colleague, psychologist Lynda Gratton, offer a lively, thought-provoking survey of a world in which life and work will be fundamentally altered by increasing longevity and rapidly changing technology ... In concrete terms, Gratton and Scott explain how the careers of the future won’t simply involve ascending a corporate ladder with experience and seniority, or perhaps shifting to a different company within an established industry. Instead, workers will likely find themselves alternating periods of employment with time out of the workforce, with some of that hiatus used to acquire skills that will enable them to cope with evolving technologies ... With the world confronting an economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s refreshing to encounter two original thinkers who can envision a brighter future, albeit one with its own daunting problems.
The authors call for an urgent reconsideration of how people’s lifestyles have been changed by technology, particularly when compared to previous generations. The book is chock-full of academic research, quotes, and data, along with detailed discussions of archetypes the authors use to demonstrate how people have been affected by recent advances ... This will be an important tool for both workers and business leaders looking to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
