Our Best Work: Break Free from the 24 Invisible Norms That Limit Us

Summary

How can we fix what we can't see? The norms crushing innovation—and our joy—are finally made visible. All 24 of them.

In Our Best Work, Nilofer Merchant names the 24 invisible norms—born of hierarchy, control, and a worn-out model of capitalism—that limit us all. Along the way, she dismantles some of management’s most beloved ideas:

• Servant Leadership
• Personal Branding
• Speaking Up
• Performance Reviews
• Move Fast and Break Things

These aren’t just ideas that fall short—they are daily routines that trap us in the past. Merchant exposes how and why they fail us. But it’s not enough to know the problem, we must also know how to move forward. She lights the path to the future by providing the 24 leading indicators that bring out the best of us and the best of us. Each chapter closes with a concrete practice, so teams can turn insight into action.

Ranked among the world’s most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50, Merchant brings an unmatched range of experience: from her start as an administrative assistant to shaping strategy at Apple and early-stage startups to serving on corporate boards. She has experienced the realities of power from every seat at the table, across industries, and around the globe. Her ideas have already reshaped companies—and their futures. With this incisive take, Merchant offers a clear and collective path to do our best work, including:

• Unlocking the essential source of innovation: new and novel ideas
• Replacing competition with trust
• Creating the solutions of tomorrow, not just today’s profits

If you’ve tired of self-help fixes or the latest fads, Our Best Work offers another way: by changing the rules of work itself.