Amitabh Utkarsh - The Seductive Illusion of Hard Work

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This is the book every millennial needs to read! Utkarshs engaging storytelling provides a roadmap for what it means to find your passion and other misconceptions of the business world. Insightful and practicalyou wont be able to put it down!

Marshall Goldsmith, New York Times #1
bestselling author of Triggers, Mojo, and
What Got You Here Wont Get You There

As the creator of the term FOMO, I loved how Utkarsh explored its nuances and offered tangible principles for shaping meaningful careers. The case studies in The Seductive Illusion of Hard Work are powerfulfrom the cognitive biases of the creator of Sherlock Holmes to the quirks of Paul Erdos, the legendary mathematician and networker. Given its cross-cultural and multi-generational appeal, I recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the future of work.

Patrick McGinnisis, Creator of the term FOMO and
leading Venture Capitalist

Utkarshs book is an uniquely interesting take on career intelligence and the future of work. It is sprinkled with original insights and relatable stories that will resonate not only with millennials but also with senior executives and founders.

Pramath Raj Sinha, Founder of Ashoka University,
Harappa Education

This book is a fascinating collection of mental models and career principles for discovering ones purpose. Utkarsh is a powerful storyteller whose narratives cause us to rethink how to work effectively.

Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor,
Harvard Business School

Utkarsh has a very interesting and sometimes counterintuitive take on the paths to success in life. This book is a very practical guide with tips that will make you rethink many things that you assumed or took for granted, especially your definition of success.

Sri Rajan, Partner in Bain & Company, San Francisco, US

This book hits so many sweet spots: It is broad (containing examples from science, arts, sports and, of course, business) but deep; it is academic yet actionable; it offers complex ideas but in bite-sized, readable, simple prose. One reason for this is Utkarsh Amitabhs career achievements, which span mainstream career success, entrepreneurial achievement and academic knowledge. The book contains none of the self-promotional clichs typical of business successeshe speaks as a trusted advisor who has the authority, experience and compassion to be the voice of his generation.

Tanya Menon, Organizational Psychologist and TED Speaker

Community, collaboration and courage are timeless. In the new world we live, these three defining themes will determine how we relook at work and life itself. Utkarsh has captured beautifully how these will work together and their interplay. An important book. An essential read.

Farzana Haque, Patron, The Lincoln Center for
the Performing Arts and The Juilliard School;
Global Head for Strategic Group Accounts, TCS

Copyright Utkarsh Amitabh, 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First published in 2020 by

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Published by Vivek Mehra for SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd. Typeset in 11/14.25 pt Adobe Caslon Pro by Fidus Design Pvt. Ltd, Chandigarh.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020942657

ISBN: 978-93-5388-526-7 (ePub)

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This book is also available as an e-book.

Previous industrial revolutions liberated humankind from animal power, made mass production possible and brought digital capabilities to billions of people. This fourth Industrial Revolution represents a fundamental change in the way we live, work and relate to one another. It is even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. The new revolution can be considered a new chapter in human development, as it is enabled by technology advances that are commensurate with those of the first, second and third Industrial Revolutions, and which are merging the physical, digital and biological worlds in ways that create both promise and peril.

Utkarshs book talks about the power of communities to shape the future of work. Through clear examples and case studies, he is able to demonstrate how millennials can embrace the benefits of the fourth Industrial Revolution equitably and sustainably. I appreciated the fact that he makes it clear that the future of work not only entails the creation of new jobs but also figuring out how to augment human intelligence with new tools of technology.

The book has been written after conducting detailed research and ethnographic interviews with shapers, young global leaders and other forum constituents. Utkarsh explores themes such as emotional intelligence, adaptability quotient and mental health in the context of the modern workplace. He has added concreate examples from his experience of being a Global Shaper, founding Network Capital and working with technology companies and non-profits.

An important point of focus for the book is radical collaboration. Every day, I witness different stakeholders collaborating across age groups, regions, religions and boundaries, and it makes it clear to me that such a collaborative approach is essential for addressing complex challenges of the 21st century. We must move from a world that prioritizes materialism to a human-centred world with inter-generational perspectives. Utkarshs focus on peer-to-peer learning and sharing is a good example of how we can build robust collaboration principles at work that can be scaled to other domains as well.