Mary Portas

Best for: People looking for a bit of a memoir mixed in with some genuinely good ideas about improving our workplace.

In a nutshell: Author Mary Portas details her career struggles rising through the ranks of department store marketing and shares her thoughts for ways to improve the workplace so it works better for all of us — men and women.

Worth quoting: “But the irony is that the whole thing is deeply emotional: wanting to smash the competition and be top dog isn’t exactly unfeeling, is it?”

Why I chose it: I’ve been working from home since moving to the UK for my partner’s job, but just started a new office gig this week. I figured I could both use a refresher on how offices work and thought this one on how they could be improved would be a good place to start. I wasn’t totally wrong, but I wasn’t right, either.

Review:
Once again, I feel as though I’ve just read a book that could have been great with the right editor. Or a better outline. The book is part memoir, part instruction manual, part argument for policy changes. In the beginning, it seemed as though each chapter would start with a bit of Ms. Portas’s life, following it with what can be learned from this vignette. But life isn’t neat and tidy, so about halfway through she seems to drop this layout, and the book suffers for it, I think.

The main premise is that the the Lean In concept is kind of bullshit — that instead of changing ourselves to fit into office culture, office culture needs to change to meet the skills and needs of women. Ms. Portas is clear in saying that she doesn’t believe all women act in certain ways though; instead, she points out that both men and women can benefit if our offices are less focused on things like competition and the bottom line and more on collaboration and balance.

There is a lot of good in this book - the chapter where she shares her company’s culture statement could be useful, and in the end she offers tips for women in each decade of life (which isn’t necessarily super helpful in some cases, because it assumes a bit of a linear career progression). But I found it a bit frustrating that so very much of the book focused on accommodating childcare. I’d say maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the book was really focused on this, as though this is the only issue that women face challenges with. And it obviously is a huge issue, but there wasn’t any recognition that one might need work balance for reasons other than caring for children or elderly parents. It seems to be a common world view, and I find it frustrating, as though other life pursuits or challenges don’t matter as much.

I was hoping this would be one of those books that I’d be recommending everyone read, but alas, it is not. Wasn’t a waste of time, but it’s definitely getting donated to the little library at my tube station next time I head out.… (meer)

I like Mary Portas and her no-nonsense approach on her TV programmes so was keen to read this book, a memoir of her early life up to the age of 21. I loved how she tells her story in a series of vignettes, which made it easy for me to read just one more, just one more. Mary was a bit mischievous, to say the least, and this really comes across in the book. I found the parts relating to the loss of her mother really moving and could tell how much she misses her mother, even now.

I'm so glad I read this book but I want to know more. I hope she's planning another book, although the beauty of this one is it's all about the nostalgia of growing up. The book ends with Mary making her way in the world of window displays, and we all know that a brilliant career awaits her. Fabulous read - I loved it.… (meer)

More interesting from the point of view of getting to know how shops work than for the information here. A book more suited to a younger audience than me, but possibly for someone looking for a new look this would be a good place to start. Advises on where to look in particular for certain looks, so possibly if you were looking to expand your range this would be good. However it's one for the shopper not the shopping avoider (like me).

It also goes through the year noting when new ranges are due and when sales tend to be due as well. With some very good advice on complaining and what level of service is acceptable, this is a book that should be read by those working in the industry.

I also think it would be a suitable book for people looking to move to England (or indeed Ireland, as much of the advice translates well) to get an idea of where to shop and what's available.

A negative point is the fact that there actually isn't all that much text. It's well illustrated but the font is almost double normal!… (meer)