Book Review: How Work Works by Michelle P. King, PHD
Listed eighth on Inc’s best books of 2023, Michelle P. King discusses the subtle science of how to get ahead without losing yourself in How Work Works. With twenty years of organizational research and a keen sense of today’s post-Covid workplace environment, King advocates navigating a meaningful career on your terms and staying true to your authentic self, and she expertly provides the essential playbook to achieve both.Why are we reading this book?
From years of research and hundreds of case studies, King determined that cultural challenges are what cause low levels of employee retention, engagement, innovation and collaboration. The author claims the solution is to understand the informal culture – how employees connect with colleagues, informally network, share information, and access development and advancement opportunities. King expertly addresses each category with proven practices to achieve success.
Backstory:
Forty-eight thousand towering quaking aspen trees have endured cold winters, long summers, drought and insect attacks for hundreds of years in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest. How have they survived? They depend on each other for survival, employ an underground communication network, and take specific steps to help a tree in distress. These trees also emit pheromones and other scents to ask for help and share what they need to survive. These trees literally “read the air.”
Challenge:
During her Ph.D. research, King found that many managers did not realize the importance of “reading the air” which she found directly related to whether employees felt they belonged. As a result, she determined the five myths of belonging:
- Belonging has always been available to everyone
- To belong you need to fit in
- Belonging means having a specific group of people to belong to
- As companies become more diverse, they also become more inclusive
- You don’t need to belong to get ahead
Solution:
King offers five rebuttals to the myths of belonging with guidelines for how to:
- Navigate informal networks
- Develop self-awareness and awareness of others
- Learn skills to be adaptive to changing conditions
- Get support for the next promotion and find meaning and fulfillment in the job
Summary:
King’s mantra throughout the book is for employees to manage the unwritten rules of the workplace and for companies to manage how their workplace works because both are at the heart of successfully doing business. The author’s backstory of how trees read the air plays a key role in the subtle science of getting ahead without losing yourself – to find meaning in your work and stay true to yourself. Michelle King is the organizational expert that will help you get there.