Face it, some books are better than others.  I know, because I recently published a book that is making no spash whatsoever.  This is a case of, I now suspect, an average book.

For reference to a great! book, look no further than Bill McKibben’s latest, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future.   In brilliant detail supported by solid research, McKibben is describing a world that we will all occupy someday (soon).  Petro prices through the roof.  Less long distance travel.  More local food.  More work at home or close to home.  Less commuting (because we simply won’t be able to afford it).  etc.

The Post-Organizational Company

While McKibben’s interests are more ecological than work-related per se, I can safely glean some things (about work) as I read his book.  His basic thesis is that we (Western societies initially but now the entire world) are so wedded to an ideology of growth growth growth that there is simply no material way for that growth to continue in the way it currently is.  At some point in the past (particularly after WWII), this push for growth was more or less understandable.  Now that we (in places like the US,UK, and France) are flush with more material comforts that we really need, it is time to start thinking about the long haul.

It is difficult indeed to talk about ’slowing down’ with our friends in developing countries, as they are still taking up many things that we have taken for granted for generations.  Yet, we (in the developed world) do have choices.

Which choices will we make?  How much waste will we continue to build in to our corporate growth models?

LEED or Perish

Massive, sprawling office buildings are one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gases and global warming.  Many of these buildings were built up in an era of High Modernism, when Americans believed (with almost religious joy), that there were no limits to anything in the world.  Not only were they terribly wrong, the legacy of that building spree is literally choking us off as it makes the air harder and harder to breath.

That is one element of the situation.  Additionally, those vast spaces- now arranged more or less as cubicle farms for faceless task work done in total isolation- are increasingly emptied out as people (i.e. humans) crave different spaces to do their work: coffee shops, at home, coworking spaces, etc. 

Only 10 years ago the idea of ‘environmentally conscious’ building was seen as the new form of socialism: An infringement upon the God given right for me to do whatever the hell I want to do, and try to stop me anyway because I’ve got a 38 under the seat…  Today, buildings that qualify for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification are rapidly becoming mainstream not only because it now seems like the right way to build, but they are also more efficient and less costly to manage.  Go figure!

This is the point of Deep Work.  When we decide, evetually, to pull our heads out of the sand, there are (sensible) solutions out there for the many ‘wicked problems’ we have created for ourselves.  Those solutions are often closer at hand than we’d like to think.

The Butcher