With reports of the almost daily dose of restructuring, the future would not seem to be quite so certain. But while some jobs may be disappearing, Payne claims, there is still plenty of work to be done. He declares we each must determine work that turns us on, whether inside or outside of an organization, position ourselves in front of that work and pursue it with a passion.

Payne says it's futile to look at current work and attempt to determine where we'll fit in the future. He suggests instead we should look at the way we want our work to be, (FutureWork is a state of mind) commit to it, and create our own fit.

The book describes how we got to where we are and how we need to prepare to bring about personal and organizational success in a challenging and exciting future.

Prepare, according to Tom Payne, by following the five rules:

• Know what turns you on. (Purpose)
• Be convinced you have what it takes. (Confidence)
• Look inside first. (Responsibility)
• Remember you're not alone. (Relationship)
• Enjoy the trip. (Fun)

What an exciting time in which to work!

HIGHLIGHTS

"Technology drove us to the factories; technology is now driving us away."

"Like it or not, reality is being fired at us point blank. All jobs are temporary - always were and always will be - but there will always be work."

"The reality is, our security does not, and can not, lie with our organizations."

"We, more so than any workers in the last century, are now free to carve out a future we can be genuinely wild about."

"If you can't find your personal purpose on your current job, for the good of all concerned, get out."

"A mission that excites us determines whether we come to work each day because it is a work day or because it makes a difference."

"The risks we are willing to assume are in direct relationship to the consequence we tie to failure."

"Confidence in ourselves can not be tied to someone or something else."

"We have varying degrees of responsibility for the events in our lives, but we have 100% responsibility for what we make of them."

"Organizations must commit to the truth and display a consistency between what they say and what they do."

"Are we playing with life or working at it?"

"The events in our lives do not determine the quality of our lives, our reactions to those events do."

Copyright © 1996 by Tom Payne. Reprinted by permission of Performance Press.

REVIEWS

Chicago Tribune
Tom Payne, a business author and speaker, says having a purpose is important because workers are "facing option shock...and more so than any workers in the last century, are free to carve out a future they can be wild about." But with that freedom, the author says, comes responsibility to:
1. Push yourself to identify what you want the future to be.
2. Position yourself in front of work that excites you.
3. Know the work you're doing is worth doing.
4. Know and live your purpose.
And once you do that, you can tackle Payne's other rules....

American Salesman
Tom Payne says FUTUREWORK is not a time...it's not a place...it's not a structure...it is a state of mind. The future is overflowing with opportunity for a person ready to follow the five rules....

Quality Digest
Payne's "FutureWork" looks at the new realities of the business world from an employee's point of view and suggests if individuals want to prosper they need to learn and follow the five rules....Payne's rules are not simply a set of instructions. Rather they require a fundamental shift in how we think....

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