Cambridge Business Association
Tomorrowmind
Book

Tomorrowmind

Thriving at Work with Resilience, Creativity, and Connection—Now and in an Uncertain Future

Martin E. P. Seligman and Gabriella Kellerman
Atria Books, 2023
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Innovative
  • Scientific

Recommendation

Many jobs today push people to perform like robots, which breeds depression and anxiety. Forward-looking work trends may not seem much better: Increasing automation, job insecurity and an uncertain future can feel overwhelming. According to Martin E.P. Seligman and Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, certain psychological and physiological tools can help you not just survive but thrive in this challenging work environment. These include learning to “embrace ambiguity” and foster self-compassion. The authors explore how and why you can use creativity, resilience and meaning to flourish.

Summary

The natural human state is that of a hunter-gatherer.

Modern labor – working in an office, factory, etc. – can breed anxiety, depression and sedentary lifestyles. How people work today seems unnatural; this is due to how the brain evolved. For 200,000 years, the human brain evolved to serve a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, developing skills such as the ability to recognize poisonous plants, track prey and create diverse languages. The hunter-gatherer life enabled humans to adapt to changing climates, and provided time for innovation and creativity.

Around 10,000 BC, human labor took a dramatic leap into farming. Humans no longer worked with nature, but made nature work for them. They attempted to plan for future droughts, floods and famines, which generated anxiety.

During the Industrial Revolution, factory work made people function in ways that moved them even further from their natural hunter-gatherer mode. Humans were expected to operate like machines – repeating movements over and over – which furthered negative impacts such as depression, alcoholism and suicide.

Though most modern work differs...

About the Authors

Martin E.P. Seligman is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and director of its Positive Psychology Center. Gabriella Rosen Kellerman is a C-suite executive and the founding CEO of LifeLink. 

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