bibliophage's review
Spinuzzi offers a new framework to think about the changing workplace. He analyzes the pros and cons of new forms of working and collaboration. I read this in 2019 and by 2020 it was even *more* relevant—in fact it probably already needs to be updated to keep up with how the professional workplace is changing.
While Spinuzzi's approach to his analysis may be questioned or challenged (he isn’t necessarily nuanced about his own position and for all his consideration of diverse workplaces he still skips over some key professional spaces), he is undoubtedly the one to read for technical writing and new theories on the modern, changing, professional workplace. Spinuzzi's ideas about adhocracies are really interesting, even if flawed or lacking in some ways—it's a start to thinking about the workplace in a whole new way. I particularly enjoyed Chapter 1 "Becoming All Edge", Chapter 2 "What Are All-Edge Adhocracies?", Chapter 5 "Working Alone, Together: The Case of Coworking", and Chapter 6 "The Dynamic Structure of All-Edge Adhocracies: Activities."
While Spinuzzi's approach to his analysis may be questioned or challenged (he isn’t necessarily nuanced about his own position and for all his consideration of diverse workplaces he still skips over some key professional spaces), he is undoubtedly the one to read for technical writing and new theories on the modern, changing, professional workplace. Spinuzzi's ideas about adhocracies are really interesting, even if flawed or lacking in some ways—it's a start to thinking about the workplace in a whole new way. I particularly enjoyed Chapter 1 "Becoming All Edge", Chapter 2 "What Are All-Edge Adhocracies?", Chapter 5 "Working Alone, Together: The Case of Coworking", and Chapter 6 "The Dynamic Structure of All-Edge Adhocracies: Activities."
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