New Book - Change the World 9 to 5

We Are What We Do
Change the World 9 to 5: 50 Actions to Change the World at Work.
Short Books, 2006, 306.36 HEN

Change the World 9 to 5 is the latest book from We Are What We Do which is a movement set up by the charity Community Links with the aim of "inspiring people to use their everyday actions to change the world". Following up from the 2004 publication Change the World for a Fiver this book focuses on the place where we spend a huge amount of our adult lives - at work.

Beyond the convenience of suggesting practical actions that can be undertaken in a place where most of us spend a great deal of time, many of the suggestions within the book also focus on changing the culture of the working environment, such as 'speak rather than email' or 'know how you fit into the bigger picture'. The benefits of making work a nicer place to be are fairly self explanatory, however this approach also as has potentially significant implications regarding the politics of work, as described by this Guardian Newspaper article.

With such a broad and far reaching goal as "changing the world" it is not surprising that the movement advocates action on a wide variety of issues including the environment, community cohesion and personal behaviour. However We Are What We Do argues in favour of developing a large social movement of people making small manageable actions, rather than relying on the actions of a select few individuals to promote change. The movement has attracted praise within the world of politics from both the Labour Party and particularly the Conservative Party, who have connected the movement to their idea of "social responsibility".

We Are What We Do has also attracted considerable media attention, not least because it has produced a bag, designed to be used instead of plastic bags, that has become a hugely popular and fashionable accessory. Read an article about the bag in The Independent newspaper.

David Robinson, co-founder and current chair of We Are What We Do, will speak at an RSA Lecture on 18 April 2007 entitled People Making Waves.