At the beginning of the Thatcher revolution 20 years ago, Charles Handy was one of those predicting a world where there would be a huge decrease in the numbers working in corporations (elephants) with secure jobs for life and a rapid rise in the self-employed (fleas).
Not everyone wanted to live in a world like this but it came to pass anyway - in 1981 Handy put his money where his mouth was and went out on his own.
The Elephant And The Flea asks the usual questions about where we go from here, enlivened by Handy's anecdotes of his career in a variety of roles across the globe, and does not promise to deliver a blueprint for a happier world. If anything, it asks more questions than it answers.
But Handy is not short on opinions and is open to alternatives. For example, he says anti-globalisation protesters have an argument and that corporations such as Monsanto and Shell have learned the hard way that your good name is valuable and brands are fragile.
He distances himself from the thesis of Francis Fukuyama that every society will eventually have democracy and capitalism, and is not particularly optimistic that the flaws of the free market can be corrected.
Growing up in a vicarage in Sallins, Co Kildare, Handy's views on Christianity are "unorthodox" but his ideas and observations on education and business are unashamedly ethical.
He says Thatcherism was beneficial but that an ugly selfishness was born and highlights "the European view" of French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who said he wanted a market economy not a market society.
Unusually for a commentator based in Britain, he is an advocate of federalism and sees this as the way forward for both Britain and the enlarged European Union.
Like so many Anglo-Irish, he left the Republic - "then a poor, priest-ridden land" - but his native country is not too far from his thoughts, although he harbours doubts about the direction of the Celtic Tiger.
His comments on the Republic are of interest because he has the advantage of knowing us while looking at us with the distance of the outsider.
We should be encouraged: Dublin is mentioned in the same breath as Barcelona, the Bay Area and Singapore.
The Elephant And The Flea is not the best book to pick up if you are anxious for snappy solutions but its eclectic style makes it extremely enjoyable to read. If nothing else, it is thought-provoking and Handy's colourful life story charts decades of economic development.
It would be of particular interest to anyone who is setting up on their own or those who aim to lead a challenging retirement.
jmulqueen@irish-times.ie
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