HAVE BEEN WORKING in di erent positions in public service for more than 25 years. The mission has stayed the same: serve the common good of Finland. Everything else has changed. What used to work is not working any more.
The grown interconnectivity, complexity and uncertainty have redecorated our space for manoeuvre. It is unclear if our well-intended decisions will cause positive outcomes. Decisions do not turn into delivery in the way they used to. There is no clarity regarding what should be done and who has the power to do it. Organizations are busy fulfilling their tasks, but alone and siloed they fall short of their targets. There is a huge disconnect between existing structures, organisations, management culture and leadership and the reality that surrounds us. Work is no longer what it used to be.
Context matters more, and it never stays the same. It is not only a question of what is the policy for the nation but it is also the question of how we all do things, how we all, both as individuals and together, solve problems, learn and work. That is why this book on perspectives on New Work is so important.
I have been reading this book with relief. There is so much explanatory power in it that it can really make a difference. It makes sense. The experience of a “frustrating combination of new technologies and old ways of doing things” is something felt every day. The practices of man- agement and leadership have a lot to accomplish with the ideas in this book.
The newest outcomes of research from different disciplines are knotted together into an easily read narrative. Although it is easy to read, it is hard to swallow. What makes it hard is the fact that it changes the way we look at things. It has changed my ideas about my future career. Be ready for a transformational experience.