The Art of Less: How to Focus on What Really Matters at Work - Hardcover

Alvesson, Mats; Spicer, André

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1399422596 ISBN 13: 9781399422598

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2025

Synopsis

Achieve more by doing less.

At work we often feel weighed down by an excess of initiatives, meetings, training and targets. Over-enthusiastic executives, interfering consultants and demanding stakeholders often get in the way of doing the 'real work'. This leaves us feeling overwhelmed but underproductive.

The Art of Less offers ideas for how to create a more effective and efficient organization by removing obstacles to meaningful work. Mats Alvesson and André Spicer explain how 'organizational sludge' gets in the way of performance, and what can be done about it. They show how unblocking systems and processes can improve work flow so people can focus more on the things that actually matter.

The Art of Less is the essential guide to how overburdened managers and employees can break down barriers to more effective working and achieve more by doing less.

About this title

About the Authors

Mats Alvesson is professor at Lund University, Sweden and, part-time, University of Bath and City University of London. He is also Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at Technical University in Munich 2023-26. He has had a large number of visiting and honorary professorships around the world and has given keynote speeches in Japan, Columbia, Mexico, Brazil, Canada and many European countries. He has written over 30 books, including The Stupidity Paradox and The Triumph of Emptiness.

André Spicer is Professor of Organizational Behaviour and the Executive Dean of Bayes Business School, City University of London. He is an expert in the areas of Organizational Behaviour, Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility. Professor Spicer holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne in Australia. He has worked with a range of large organizations including Barclays, City of London Corporation, Transport for London, IBM, Ford, UK Houses of Parliament, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Bank of England and InterSpa (Austria).

From the Back Cover

An essential handbook on how overburdened organizations can break down barriers to more effective working, and how everyone can achieve more by doing less.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1399422596
• ISBN 13: 9781399422598
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240