I often hear managers saying that youngsters lack self-discipline and a proper work ethic. They have a hard time haranguing them into doing their job more conscientiously. Or I hear managers talking about the need to "incentivise" the jobs people do. Without pay-for-performance and other reward schemes, they claim, employees have no reason to go the extra mile. There may be a place for these domineering and manipulative ways of leading. But too few managers talk about making work inherently meaningful and giving people the autonomy they need to thrive. In other words, they don't give enough thought to making jobs truly engaging and fulfilling. This information graphic portrays these three mindsets and the different "eras" of personal drive at work. Read more

When growing up, most people are encouraged to enter a lucrative, practical profession instead of dabbling in the arts. When going through university, most people enter a discipline and are funnelled through that stovepipe. When entering the job, most people are placed in some narrowly defined jobs and climb a job ladder. That's most people. You can't afford to float through such narrow channels. It's time to take control of your work and incorporate lessons from a broad range of disciplines. Follow your artistic interests. Broaden your experience with travel. The global economy favours the Renaissance men and women. This information graphic profiles that ideal. Read more

With every recession comes a raft of books about how to cope. These are the lean years. So businesses are told to streamline. Be frugal. Put those expansion plans on the shelf. Consolidate gains. Et cetera. Yawn! This advice is all so predictable. Yet when Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson offer similar advice in their new book Rework, it all seems so minty fresh. How could that be? Well, to start with, they're advocating that businesses should be small, frugal, and keenly focused during the boom years. And that managers are mostly deadweight. This is an anti-bureaucracy manifesto about steering clear of the "go big or go home" mindset that rules many industries. Read more