Free Agent Nation
A Book Review and Interview with the Author
by John Rossheim
Independent professionals shall inherit the earth. Or at least that's the gospel of the working world rendered by Daniel Pink in his new book, Free Agent Nation: How America's New Independent Workers Are Transforming the Way We Live. Pink, who is no 12-stepping motivational coach, presents a sweeping portrait of the millions of Americans who have chucked or been booted from their jobs and gone solo.
Pink begins this manifesto by describing how the decline of William Whyte's fabled Organization Man set the stage for the rise of free agents. He then discusses how the social contract of employment has changed, how free agents organize themselves and their gigs and what the free agent future may bring: liberalized home-office zoning, the one-person IPO and e-tirement, to name a few.
Pink, who in 1997, at age 33, left his job as chief speechwriter for Al Gore, writes more eloquently and with more humor than virtually all of his shelf-mates in the business section. His book is an unusual mixture of careful reporting and full-throttle evangelism. Even as free agents clear their jammed printers and respond to client nit-picking, they need to keep an eye on the big picture. Pink's work may be the only book that effectively uses the overarching themes of free agency to make sense of the details.
Be warned: The slim section "Free Agent Woes" underrepresents its topic. Some readers may be frustrated that they can't read more from the hundreds of independent professionals Pink interviewed in a cross-country odyssey.
Pink recently expanded on some of the issues raised by Free Agent Nation. Here are excerpts:
Monster.com: What do you say to the folks who want to be free agents but lack the chutzpah to take the leap?
Daniel Pink: Free agency is less risky than a lot of people imagine. The worst thing that can happen is you fail and return to the status quo.
Mc: While many free agents make more money than their full-time counterparts, other soloists make less. What does it take to move from the trailing group to the leading group?
DP: It depends on market conditions. It also depends on skill sets and connections. The fault line throughout the workforce today is between those who have skills and those who don't. The issue is almost a public policy question: How does this country reckon with the fact that some workers are being left out in these very prosperous times?
Mc: Speaking of policy, do you think the Bush administration is a good or bad thing for free agents?
DP: Bush is smart to make a bit of a run at cutting corporate welfare. So many public policies are skewed against independent workers, while there are so many handouts to gigantic companies. But I haven't seen Bush do much on health insurance, which is the 800-pound gorilla of free agent politics. He's put out a gigantic tax cut for the extremely well off, but I don't think he's done anything to simplify the tax code, to make it more worker friendly or more free agent friendly.
Mc: You write a lot about history. How has the past helped drive the development of free agency?
DP: The 20th century was a bit of an aberration. We were dominated by these gigantic, faceless institutions full of anonymous drones. We might now be returning to the way that economies and societies in the West more naturally operate. When I saw clusters of free agents gathering together -- partly for group therapy, partly as a board of directors – I thought it was the coolest innovation I'd ever seen. Then I found out that Ben Franklin did it first.
Mc: Are online talent marketplaces serving a useful purpose?
DP: I don't think they'll ever replace personal networks or word of mouth, but they can be a very powerful supplement. As with an offline talent agency or a temporary agency, some people rely on them more than others. But on balance, I think they make the market work better.
