The Robot in the Next Cubicle: What You Need to Know to Adapt and Succeed in the Automation Age

Boyer, founder of the career coaching firm Success Rockets, writes in his introduction that he seeks “to provide [readers] with the means to successfully navigate the changes and disruptions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” but his book falls far short of that goal. Instead of showing a way forward for the average blue- or white-collar employee whose position may be one of the 50% of current jobs predicted to become obsolete, Boyer reviews prior technological revolutions in order to outline the dimensions of the current one. He makes clear that even the most powerful institutions are at risk when it comes to extreme technological disruptions, using the sudden collapses of Enron, Lehman Brothers, and others, as examples. Much of the advice Boyer offers to readers is boosterism: “You are the CEO of You, Inc.—The Business of You,” he writes, predicting that freelance work is the future for many people (though he doesn’t address the insecurity of such work), and then blandly advises readers to be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and to create their own personal brand. Most readers will find Boyer’s book more depressing than useful. [em](Aug.) [/em]