Product Description

Charles Handy is perhaps best known outside the business world as a wise and warm presenter of Radio 4's "Thought for the Day". Long recognised as one of the world's leading business thinkers (over a million copies of his books have been sold around the world), in "Myself and Other More Important Matters" he leaves the management territory he has so effectively and influentially mapped in the past to explore the wider issues and dilemmas - both moral and creative - raised by the turning points of his long and successful life. Here he investigates the big issues of how life can best be lived as they have emerged from the unfolding of his life and his unique and influential understanding of what really matters. From supplying oil by boat to an area larger than England as a bullish young Shell executive in Borneo to realising that there was a big difference between describing the development of a 'portfolio' life (made up of a variety of activities for a range of purposes and pay) in theory and actually himself leaving behind full-time employment, from helping to start up the London and Open business schools to listening and talking to people all over the world about how they want to manage their lives, Handy's telling of his experiences proves both revealing and significant.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #204456 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From the Publisher
The bestselling author of THE EMPTY RAINCOAT and THE AGE OF UNREASON examines life's big choices - taking the format of his famous BBC 'Thought for the Day' programme to frame the key phases of our life.

From the Inside Flap
Many people who have never read his bestselling books know Charles Handy above all as the wise and warm presenter of the BBC's Thoughts of the Day. In MYSELF AND OTHER MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS, Handy gives us at last his thoughts on life's big questions and turning points, mining his own experience to tell us what he's learned along the way. He shares the lessons his father taught him at the Vicarage where he grew up in County Kildare, tells us what he learned in Borneo in his days working for Royal Dutch Shell, or later in America, where corporate scandals have shaken our understanding of what is ethical and what is acceptable in business; or in Italy, when on a whim he decided to buy and fix up an old house in Tuscanny.

Throughout the book, he asks us to look at what we value -- is it money? Family? Time? What is the role of work in our life? What do we find fulfilling? As our working lives blend ever more into the rest of who we are, Charles Handy has emerged as an invaluable social thinker. It is hard to imagine a better or wiser guide to life's big questions.

From the Back Cover
‘Charles Handy’s books have been a godsend… Britain’s leading management writer is consistently provocative, highly readable and insightful. You might not always agree with him, but he is sure to get you thinking. Myself and Other More Important Matters…uses all his varied experience…to ask further searching questions about how we live and work and where society is headed.’ Daily Telegraph

Perhaps best known outside the business world as the wise and warm presenter of Radio 4's 'Thought for the Day', Charles Handy has long been recognised as one of the world's leading business thinkers. In Myself and Other More Important Matters, he leaves the management territory he has so effectively and influentially mapped in the past to investigate the wider issues and dilemmas - both moral and creative - raised by the turning points of his long and successful life.

'[Goes] deeper into the heart of business than almost any book... It is a compelling, touching and finally inspiring journey… To paraphrase TS Eliot, his remarkable achievement is to bring us back to our starting point - but allow us to recognise the place for the first time.’ Observer

‘His writing is both spiritual…and practical: he makes you want to do something about your life, and at the same time convinces that you can… The most complete account yet of where the man and his ideas have come from. So much of it will strike home… Real inspiration...excellent advice. Times Educational Supplement

‘Highly readable… A wise work from which we will all learn.’ Sunday Times

‘Handy at his best; humane, thoughtful and serious.’ Financial Times

Customer Reviews

Interesting life-story, shame about the proof-reading...
A weekend's 5-6 hours is all it took me to read this book. I think that says something about the easy pace of the book, the vivid writing style of the author and the imaginative weaving of tales by the raconteur Charles Handy. Having recently read two American autobiographies, I was pleased to note that this one is different, perhaps because Handy is not American. There is no pomposity, no grandiose claims, no hyperbole. Handy does not forget to give credit for his achievements where it may be due, whether it is his education, his wonderful wife or his late father's colleagues. Nor does he go on about I, me, myself although he could have done so, this being his autobiography. His life was clearly not lived in isolation. Highlighting this allows a better understanding of how he discovered opportunities and how he made his decisions about taking them on. One can paint a fairly full picture of his life, with all its characters. That he is well-read is apparent throughout the book, and in his approach to management issues, I think he may be the closest thing we may have to Peter Drucker, who now sadly is no more.

Why 4 stars? Well, a note about proof-reading in the book: I do not know if this vexes many people, but it irritates me because poor spelling, missing words and malapropisms can distract from a perfectly engrossing piece of writing. Why do editors let authors down like this? If I were 12, I would find 'pubic' instead of 'public' funny, but no more.

Business and integrity do mix
Amongst the management dross that gets published, Charles Handy's books have always stood out in a positive way because he tells it from the soul rather than the cheque book. How refreshing then, to read that even with all his accummulated wisdom and experience, Handy has room for regrets at decisions he's made throughout his life, and reflects on what he could have done differently.

This is an interesting stroll through Charles Handy's life and work - but what comes through for me is his sense of humility - decency even - that frankly you'd be hard-pushed to find amongst most people who ply his trade. At the core, simplicity and a sense of integrity seems to drive everything Handy stands for, which are sound values in anyone's book.

Easily read and digested, Handy's book lingers in the mind beyond the last page. The tragedy is, that in a market dominated by ghost-written biographies of non-celebrities, this gem of a book should be read by more people - but probably won't be. A shame.

Wisdom
This is a fantastic book and one that I will read many times. Handy is philosphical and compassionate and succeeds in making you pause and reflect upon what he is saying in every chapter. The wisdom and kindness of the man and his ability to put across difficult concepts in an easy to read and digest style is commendable. This book will be of interest not only to those familiar with Handy but also to others trying to make sense of the world we live in today. Higly recommended.