The Age of Paradox

Handy, one of he world's foremost business philosophers, provides an important work that all leaders must read or at minimum acknowledge the concepts he espouses. As a leadership writer and instructor, Handy's work is a staple for my students. His chapters on the Sigmoid Curve and Doughnut are alone worth the price of the book.

Handy does an excellent job of defining key business and personal paradoxes. The best section was on the intellectual paradox which future managers need to know how to anticipate and deal with.

A book that attacks the very core for some of our most reverential beliefs, exposes our modicum of understanding about the rationale in doing some of the things we do(assuming there is one)and puts across some eye-opening,some egregious thoughts without rancour or religious fervour in a cogent and organised mannerBut I must add in the same vein that in my opinion, the most difficult thing to do after wooing an audience is assuring that one's attention remains unequivocally rivetted to the machinations of the author's thinking. To that extent, Handy flounders as his line of reasoning gets more and more nebulous. Even then, for sheer novelty, impact and articulate ratiocination, The Age of Paradox takes some beating

From the first page it is obvious that the author has an incredibly diverse background of experience and knowledge which enable him to take a high level view of the world. Most books dive right into a subject and never explain where they are going. Handy tries to fit all of our life experiences into a model by stating that life is a series of paradoxes. And therein lies the key--we cannot make a perfect working model of life because things are always paradoxical in nature. Take the paradox of justice--Handy's discussion of this phenomenon allows you to finally come to grips with why issues such as affirmative action can seem so compelling to both sides. If you are interested on the ideas of capitalism and whether or not it is a best solution the book provides some real insights. Take for example Handy's simple explanation about Adam Smith and The Wealth of Nations. Having personally done some reading on the subject, Handy was the first to inform me that Smith was actually a professor of moral philosophy. He thought that the market would work, but it would require social responsibility on the part of society. I think this simple point is rarely discussed when using Smith's invisible hand in defense of capitalism.As an avid reader who gets disinterested after the first chapter of most books, this is the first one in a long time worthy of being finished. Handy has an amazing ability to incorporate our experiences in life: love, money, work, family, etc. into a model which serves to explain it all. While I'm sure Handy himself would agree that his model is incomplete, the thought excites me and I can't wait to see what "age" he publishes next.This book may not be the newest book out there, but it is certainly one of the best.