Humanocracy - by Gary Hamel & Michele Zanini (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Our organizations are failing us. They're sluggish, change-phobic, and emotionally arid. Human beings, by contrast, are adaptable, creative, and full of passion. This gap between individual and organizational capability is the unfortunate by-product of bureaucracy--the top-down, rule-choked management structure that undergirds virtually every organization on the planet. Invented in the nineteenth century with the goal of turning people into semi-programmable robots, bureaucracy is deeply dehumanizing. Today, only 13 percent of employees around the world are fully engaged in their work. The rest show up physically but leave much of their enthusiasm and ingenuity at home--hardly surprising given the tendency of bureaucrats to regard human beings as mere "resources." By the authors' reckoning, bureaucracy costs the global economy more than $9 trillion in lost economic output each year. Worse, despite all the hype around flat organizations and agile processes, bureaucracy is growing, not shrinking. In their provocative and practical new book, world-renowned business thinker Gary Hamel and expert coauthor Michele Zanini lay out a detailed blueprint for creating organizations that are fully human and free from the shackles of bureaucracy. Few leaders would admit to being champions of bureaucracy, but rarer still is the leader who has a plan for defeating it. Essential elements include: Calculating the hidden costs of "bureausclerosis" Ridding ourselves of toxic bureaucratic beliefs Drawing lessons from organizations that have excised bureaucracy Uprooting bureaucratic structures and processes while avoiding operational chaos Overcoming the resistance of those inclined to defend bureaucracy Learning to lead in an environment in which position and rank are no longer the keys to the kingdom The ultimate goal: organizations that are infused with the spirit of entrepreneurship, where everyone thinks like an owner, and game-changing innovation is the rule rather than the exception. Humanocracy brims with illuminating insights, real-world stories, and powerful tools. Both manifesto and manual, it shows you how to build an organization that's fit for the future by building one that's fit for human beings"--

Book Synopsis

Management guru Gary Hamel and coauthor Michele Zanini paint a stark picture of how bureaucracy is worse and more costly than ever, and provide a manual for dismantling it and building an entrepreneurial organization that is truly fit for the future.

• Big idea book from leading business/management thinker
• Counterintuitive argument, that bureaucracy is still the biggest obstacle to innovation and success
• Substantial research base
• Lots of fresh stories and case studies in support of the argument
• Lots of frameworks and advice for our smart management audience

Audience: Broad general management audience interested in innovation, management innovation, organizational change, organizational culture, transformation, operations.

Announced first printing: 50,000
Laydown goal: 7,500

Review Quotes

Named one of "The 10 Best Business Books of 2021" by Forbes

Silver Medal Winner for Best Business Commentary Book in the 2021 Axiom Business Book Awards

Named one of the "Top Ten Technology Books Of 2020" -- Forbes

Named one of the "Best books of 2020: Critics' Picks" by the Financial Times

Named one of the "Best Business Books 2020: Strategy" by strategy+business

Named one of 16 New Business Books You Need to Read in 2020 by Inc. magazine

"The authors skillfully leave little doubt that industrial age bureaucratic organizations are not structurally equipped to meet the unrelenting change and challenges of today." -- School Administrator (AASA, American Association of School Administrators)

"Anyone trying to reinvent a "legacy" business should read Humanocracy... Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini set out a practical view on how to address the transformation challenges many companies are dealing with. Humanocracy highlights a lesson that has never been more important: businesses are all about people, and the more human we make them, the better." -- Ana Botín, Executive Chairman, Santander

"...Messrs Hamel and Zanini may be onto something. Too many people feel dissatisfied with their jobs. A Gallup survey of American employees in 2019 found that less than a quarter said they were expected to be innovative in their job; only one in five felt their opinions mattered at work. Unleash their creativity, and productivity will improve, job satisfaction will increase and workers in supposedly "low-skilled" jobs will be free to demonstrate their abilities. If so, the future of work needn't be gloomy after all." -- The Economist

"The authors present a fascinating new blueprint for organizational design that captures the few necessary benefits of bureaucracy, while avoiding the penalties. They also take readers inside exemplary businesses that have managed to upend the traditional bureaucratic model. This well-reasoned concept is fully developed around the authors' principles of humanocracy, and includes practical details on how to achieve revolutionary goals with evolutionary means." -- Library Journal

Advance Praise for Humanocracy:

"Rarely has the case for dismantling bureaucracy been made as effectively, passionately, and comprehensively. The time to start is now, and the book to read is Humanocracy, Hamel and Zanini's practical guide to creating work environments that give everyone the opportunity to flourish. This is essential to revitalizing our organizations and reinvigorating our economies." -- Bengt Holmstrom, Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 2016 Nobel laureate in Economics

"Hamel and Zanini have achieved two remarkable feats. They've produced one of the most cogent critiques of bureaucracy that I've ever read--explaining the many ways that bureaucratic organizations undermine human autonomy, resilience, and creativity. And they've issued a stirring call to do better--to build organizations that liberate the everyday genius of the people inside them. Packed with keen insights and practical guidance, Humanocracy is an essential book." -- Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author, Drive and To Sell Is Human

"Humanocracy provides the reader with a road map to helping organizations unleash creativity, energy, and resiliency through leveraging the core of every organization--humans." -- Gen. Stanley McChrystal, US Army, Ret.; New York Times bestselling author, Team of Teams

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About the Author

Gary Hamel is on the faculty of the London Business School and is a cofounder of the Management Lab, an organization that builds technology and tools to support breakthrough management innovation. Professor Hamel has been hailed by the Wall Street Journal as the world's most influential business thinker, and his landmark books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. They include The Future of Management and What Matters Now.

Michele Zanini is a cofounder of the Management Lab, where he helps large organizations become more adaptable, innovative, and engaging places to work. Zanini is an alumnus of McKinsey & Company and the RAND Corporation and holds degrees from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

Visit humanocracy.com to learn more.