A SMALL but not insignificant segment of my generation has decided, quietly, that corporates must fall. This generation, I define broadly and roughly, as between 28 and 40 years of age.
And by corporates, I might as well include other formal institutions, such as government and established nongovernmental organisations. These professionals, some about to hit the middle-management rung, others having risen quickly to an unfulfilling apex, are deciding to do their own thing. This is a development in line with the global move towards work arrangements that can be defined as portfolio careers. It’s a phenomenon that was best chronicled by Charles Handy, the most important, if not the only, “business guru” Britain has ever produced. His advice: “I told my children when they were leaving education that they would be well advised to look for customers, not bosses.”