Unhurried at Work

Book excerpt: How can we work in a way that makes the most of our human qualities, at a speed that works for us? Being unhurried is about working as we are: messy, imperfect, normal human beings. The more we accept that, the more fun it turns out we can have. To be unhurried is to move at the right pace for the task at hand, to understand our place in relation to others and to be realistic about what can and should be achieved. This book tells the story of my journey towards a more unhurried way of working and living, drawing on five years of conversational experiments and over 15 years facilitating meetings and events around the world. I share what I have learned, and offer some pointers to a way of working that allows human beings to work at their best - instead of rushing to keep up in a world dominated by machines and algorithms. When we hurry less, we increase the likelihood of serendipity and discover the benefits of "effortless effort".This short book might take you less than an hour to read - if you go cover-to-cover. And I've written it for dipping in and out, because I don't want reading to be laborious. It's not an instruction manual, how-to guide or self-help book. I'm aiming to provide inspiration and food for thought so that you can find your own unhurried path with your own surprises and discoveries. Johnnie Moore is a facilitator who has worked with businesses, charities and activists around the world. He's a visiting tutor at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University.