Article by Chris Dunkerley on Charles Handy's living life as a flea - a free, independent worker - apart from the elephant - a business organization. Dunkerley explains how Charles's experience learning to "chunk" his time with his wife, Elizabeth, has created a more productive life for both of them in the midst of Charles's more unconventional means of livelihood. Chunking has helped Charles to tackle three core problems of self-employed life, namely, how to organize one's own time, how to balance work and family outside the routine a traditional job in an organization provides, and how to do and manage all of one’s jobs and responsibilities independently. Dunkerley then identifies Handy's three prerequisites for success operating as a flea, those being a willingness to sell one's self, self-belief, and deciding what is important in one's life. The independence that comes with being a flea, however, is not something Handy encourages for everyone, as it would increase selfishness in society. Therefore, Handy recommends for others to chunk time in four different types of work, specifically, earning work, home work, study work, and gift work, the latter being the type of work that can counter selfish tendencies.
Handy, Charles B Handy, Elizabeth Organizational change Organization theory Organizational behavior Dunkerley, Chris Business Guru (publication)
Source
Article by Charles Handy on living life as a flea, a free, indepedent worker, apart from a business organization, that is, the elephant, 2001; Charles Handy Papers; Box 15, Folder 6; 3 pages
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