Book summary #30 - The Corporate Lattice
The Corporate Lattice was chosen as the book club’s thirtieth book, in recognition of the fact that the “corporate ladder” is a poor metaphor for a companies of relatively stable size. The situation is different for rapidly growing companies, who might need an ever-enlarging cadre of managers or directors to oversee burgeoning work teams.
It was also recommended by a colleague who found the book useful on her return from maternity leave on a part-time basis. Her limited availability meant she had to find a role which didn’t build directly on her career to that point, so the lattice metaphor may have helped in showing that a career move couldn’t just be “up” or “down” but sideways as well.
As a soon-to-be-father, it was surprising to find that the authors’ research found more men reporting work-life conflict than women — perhaps because companies have come to accomodate mothers’ scheduling needs, but have not yet come to appreciate the impacts of children on fathers’ availability. Some of the book’s conclusions seemed to overreach as well, as captured in the “side notes” at the end of each chapter summary.
As always, if you enjoyed the summary, please consider supporting the authors by purchasing a copy of the book. 
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