What is the main message of Back to Human?

The main message of Back to Human is reconnecting with our human nature amidst the digital age.

How long does it take to read Back to Human?

Reading Back to Human takes a few hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Who is the author of Back to Human?

The author of Back to Human is Dan Schawbel.

Corporate Culture

Back to Human Book Summary - Back to Human Book explained in key points

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Back to Human summary

Name: Back to Human
Rating: 4.4 (41 reviews)
Author: Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel

How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation

4.4 (41 ratings)

21 mins

Brief summary

Back to Human by Dan Schawbel explores the effects of technology on workplace relationships and productivity. The book offers practical strategies for finding balance between face-to-face interactions and digital communication, and creating a more human-centered work culture.

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Work Culture

Table of Contents

Back to Human
Summary of 7 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 7

What’s in it for me? Learn how to lead with a human touch in an age of technology.

Technology is changing the world, and not always for the better. Social networking has made it easier for us to connect with people around the globe, but it’s also linked to depression and social isolation. Email and instant messaging have accelerated our ability to communicate, but at the expense of the richer experience that comes with face-to-face contact. Remote working may offer flexibility but it makes it harder to collaborate with colleagues and form workplace friendships.

The world is becoming a little less human, and that has a cost. So it’s time for leaders in the business world to think about how they can recognize the benefits of technology while also accepting its limitations. Leaders need to consider how they can get back to a more human approach to business that acknowledges our universal need for interaction and understanding.

These blinks provide solutions to some of the most common problems caused, or exacerbated, by technology in the workplace.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why technology is as much a distraction as a productivity aid;
how important it is to have good friends at work; and
why a heartfelt compliment is a better reward than a cash bonus.

For all its benefits, technology is weakening human relationships that are important for personal and business life.

Digital technology continues to change the world. Things that barely existed a decade ago, like smartphones and tablets, messaging systems and social networks, are a fact of life today. And this technology undoubtedly has had many positive effects. It has never been easier for us to connect and stay in touch with people all over the world.

But technology is also having a negative impact on people’s lives. For one, it exacerbates social isolation – a lack of contact and connectedness with other people – particularly amongst younger people who use technology the most.

That’s because people crave human connection but nonetheless find it easier and simpler to turn to a device than to have a normal conversation. As a result, people feel they are getting their dose of social interaction. But in reality, they are missing out on forming real relationships. The University of Pittsburgh conducted a study in 2004, finding that a person spending two hours a day on social media doubled their risk of social isolation.

Depression is also a concern. University of Houston research from 2015 found that the more active someone was on Facebook, the more likely they were to be depressed. According to the author, that may be because they compare themselves to the curated, shiny and impossible versions of their friends’ lives put on display.

Isolation and depression damage social relationships that are hugely important for satisfaction. The famous Grant Study, described in great detail in three books by American psychiatrist George Vaillant, followed the lives of 268 Harvard undergraduates for 75 years from 1938 onward. The study discovered that the strongest predictor of life satisfaction among participants wasn’t their career achievements or earnings, but rather the strength of their relationships.

Strong relationships have also been shown to help specifically with satisfaction and success at work. A Wharton Business School study from 2017 that interviewed over 700 employees and managers found that employee loneliness was correlated with poor performance. It’s perhaps not surprising. After all, doing business is all about relationships and relationship building.

If our increasing tendency to hide behind screens and devices instead of investing in our relationships is weakening our ability to achieve work and life satisfaction, what’s the solution? Surely, it’s to get back to being more human. Read on and find out how you can help cultivate true, human fulfillment in the workplace.

To improve the workplace, leaders should focus on ensuring true fulfillment for themselves and others.

Money can’t buy you happiness. It may be a cliché, but it contains a lot of truth because there is much more to fulfillment and happiness than how much you earn. At the heart of employee fulfillment are human relationships.

In 1943, the psychologist Abraham Maslow established his famous hierarchy of needs, which set out what is most psychologically important to humans. The oft-cited theory states that after we fulfill our most basic needs – for food, water, shelter and security – what is most important to humans is a sense of belonging and love.

Optimizing productivity requires more than just using quick-fix technology.

Technology has, without a doubt, helped make everything quicker. Where once we drafted, signed and sent letters that would take days to arrive, now we write emails in no time.

But has technology really made us more productive? That’s hard to really say.

Diversity remains an underappreciated source of fresh ideas and competitive advantage.

Almost every major business today pays lip service to diversity and its importance in the workplace. But the harsh reality is that too many businesses remain homogenous.

In Silicon Valley, Hispanics and African Americans combined comprise just 5 percent of the total workforce, according to a 2014 USA Today article. And despite the recent rise in prominence of the Me Too movement, and the growing debate about women’s rights in the workplace, just 24 percent of all senior business roles worldwide are filled by women.

Technology has weakened workplace collaboration and communication, but there are ways to fight back.

Walk into any coffee shop in any big city in the world on a weekday and you’ll likely encounter at least a handful of remote workers, hunched over glowing MacBooks and tablets, typing away.

It has never been easier to work remotely, and many of us love the flexibility that it offers. But, as we’ve already seen, human connection, communication and collaboration is key to personal and business success. If your people only communicate through technology, they are unlikely to form the personal bonds that create strong workplace friendships. And they are unlikely to experience many watercooler moments where moments of insight are generated by conversations that can only happen when you are together in the same space.

Genuine recognition that goes beyond financial incentives, is key to workforce motivation.

If you are like most people, it’s probably not long since you clicked like on something, whether that’s your aunt’s latest Instagram picture or a particularly witty tweet from a friend. Thanks to technology and social networks, giving and receiving recognition and validation is a fact of everyday life.

So leaders should pay close attention to how they recognize great work because it will have a significant impact on employee satisfaction and business success.

The modern world and workplace can be lacking in empathy, so do your bit to reverse the trend.

Sometimes, it feels as if our modern work culture regards empathy – the ability and willingness to understand and share other people’s feelings – as a sign of weakness.

Too many leaders are self-serving and focused on getting ahead themselves, while boosting business success at the expense of employee well-being. Indeed, according to a 2016 report into empathy in the workplace, published by employee benefits consultancy Businessolver, one third of all employees believe that the only thing their employers care about is profit.

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What is Back to Human about?

Back to Human (2018) explores how workplaces that offer a more human approach offer not just a better environment for employees, but better business results. In an age dominated by the use of technology, Back to Human is a practical guide showing workplace leaders how they can build a better corporate culture based on human connections.

Back to Human Review

Back to Human (2018) explores the impact of digital technology on our personal and professional lives, offering solutions to bring back human connection in an increasingly digital world. Here's why this book is worth reading:

With practical strategies and tips, it helps readers create a healthy relationship with technology and prioritize human interactions.
Through real-life examples and case studies, it highlights the benefits of face-to-face interactions and the power of emotional connections in our personal and professional lives.
The book's insightful analysis of the impact of technology and its actionable steps to rebuild connection make it engaging and thought-provoking.

Best quote from Back to Human

To be fulfilled at work, committed to our teams, and happy, we need to focus on building deeper relationships with the people around us.

—Dan Schawbel

Who should read Back to Human?

Managers and leaders who want to build human connections in the workplace
Anyone uneasy about the impact of technology on work and workplace relationships
People looking for a practical guide to modern day management.

About the Author

Dan Schawbel is an expert in all things related to the future of the workplace. The founder of workplacetrends.com, the world’s largest aggregator of research on workplace issues, he is an acclaimed entrepreneur, podcaster, speaker and author. He has published two other best-selling books about life at work, Promote Yourself and Me 2.0.

Categories with Back to Human

Corporate Culture Management & Leadership

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