Work and the workplace books
Work and the workplace books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
Working
Studs TerkelOral history of American workers describing their jobs in their own words; a common starting point for non-academic accounts of work.
Cubed
Nikil SavalTraces the history of the office from its nineteenth-century origins through open-plan design and corporate campuses.
Nickel and Dimed
Barbara EhrenreichAuthor's undercover account of low-wage jobs, showing how pay, housing and scheduling affect workers' lives.
The No Asshole Rule
Robert I. SuttonArgues that workplace bullying and demeaning behaviour carry real costs, and offers ways to reduce them.
Private government
Elizabeth AndersonPhilosopher's argument that employers exercise governing power over employees, and why that raises questions about freedom and justice at work.
Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.
More work and the workplace books
- The human side of enterprise
The human side of enterpriseDouglas McGregor - Labor and monopoly capital
Labor and monopoly capitalHarry Braverman - The Practice of Management
The Practice of ManagementPeter F. Drucker - The Corrosion of Character
The Corrosion of CharacterRichard Sennett - Overcoming the five dysfunctions of a team
Overcoming the five dysfunctions of a teamPatrick Lencioni - Joy, Inc.
Joy, Inc.Richard Sheridan - Lab ratsLab ratsDaniel Lyons
- Alive at work
Alive at workDaniel M. Cable - The Heart Aroused
The Heart ArousedDavid Whyte - Physical settings and organization development
Physical settings and organization developmentFred I. Steele - ASL at Work
ASL at WorkWilliam Newell2009 - Introduction to work psychology
Introduction to work psychologyZiel C. Bergh2011