Rethinking Work

If you are involved in helping students prepare for a career, I recommend you read Rebooting Work by Maynard Webb. The strength of Webb’s book is the process it provides for rethinking work. Webb provides a framework and a methodology for creating a new personal paradigm that empowers the individual to create work that is meaningful and fulfilling. He inspires readers to take responsibility for their lives and careers and avoid falling into the role of victim. He also outlines how companies need to re-envision the workplace if they hope to attract and retain the best employees. He argues that we are in the age of entrepreneurship. Today’s workplace must be a meritocracy. Rewards are to go to those who produce and contribute. Simply putting in time does not cut it. He also argues that technology allows individuals the freedom to work from anywhere and makes it more possible than ever to have it all—a rewarding career and a satisfying personal life. The book’s weakness is that Webb writes as though everyone works in the technology field. Those whose career dreams fall outside the high tech industry may have difficulty translating Webb’s advice to their situations. Nonetheless, the book holds value for these readers if they focus on what Webb has to say about rethinking work and career.

Inspiration and Warning

Jeffrey Selingo, an editor for The Chronicle of Higher Education, has written a clear, balanced, up-to-date account of the challenges confronting higher education and their meaning for the future of American education. Selingo’s book provides inspiration for those seeking to transform American higher education and a warning to those defending a broken system. In his book College (Un)bound, Selingo traces the emergence of the challenges currently confronting higher education, the five disruptive forces changing the educational system, and the five ways higher education will change in the future. Selingo not only sites innovative examples throughout the book but also provides a section that summarizes specific projects conducted by colleges and universities of all types that are reshaping the face of higher education. A must for students considering college and their parents is a separate section that provides checklists for how to choose the right college. Educators, parents, and students will find value in reading this book and considering its many examples and lessons concerning the future of higher education and what it means for students and those who care about them.