Charles Brian Handy, CBE (25 July 1932 – 13 December 2024) was an Irish author and philosopher who specialised in

organisational behaviour Organizational behavior or organisational behaviour (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the "study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organiza ...

and management. Among the ideas he advanced are the " portfolio career" and the " shamrock organization" (in which professional core workers, freelance workers and part-time/temporary routine workers each form one leaf of the "shamrock"). Handy was rated among The Thinkers 50, a private list of the most influential living management thinkers. In 2001, he was second on this list, behind

Peter Drucker Peter Ferdinand Drucker (; ; November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of modern management theory. H ...

, and in 2005, he was tenth. When the

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a not-for-profit, independent corporation that is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ''HBR'' is published six times a year ...

had a special issue to mark the publication's 50th anniversary, Handy,

and

Henry Mintzberg Henry Mintzberg is a Canadian academic and author on business and management. He is currently the Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at the Desautels Faculty of Management of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he has been ...

were asked to write special articles. In July 2006, Handy was conferred with an honorary

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

Background

Born the son of a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

in Clane,

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, Ireland, Handy was educated as a boarder at Bromsgrove School and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

Career

Handy's business career started in marketing at

Shell plc Shell plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and second ...

. He left Shell to teach at the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

in 1972 and spent a year in Boston observing the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

's way of teaching business. He was: *Marketing executive at Shell International Petroleum Company, from 1956 to 1965. *Economist at Charter International, from 1965 to 1966. *International Faculty Fellow at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

, from 1966 to 1967. *

, from 1967 to 1995 (professor from 1978 to 1994). *Warden at St George's House, Windsor Castle from 1977 to 1981. *Writer and broadcaster from 1981 to 2024; his death. Handy was the chairman of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

from 1987 to 1989 and was instrumental in persuading Mark Goyder to join which led to the Tomorrow's Company inquiry. Handy had honorary doctorates from Bristol Polytechnic (now the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

), UEA,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Durham,

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

and the

University of Dublin The University of Dublin (), corporately named as The Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a research university located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dublin, whi ...

. He was an honorary fellow of St Mary's College,

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, the

Institute of Education The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is the faculty of education and society of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior t ...

City and Guilds and

. He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours "for services to Personnel Management Education and Practice." At the time of his death, Handy had one book forthcoming, ''The View from Ninety: Reflections on Living a Long, Contented Life'', which is set for publication in June 2025.

Ideas and style

A feel for Handy's style can be gained from the opening of his autobiography: "Some years ago I was helping my wife arrange an exhibit of her photographs of Indian tea gardens when I was approached by a man who had been looking at the pictures. 'I hear that Charles Handy is here,' he said. 'Indeed he is,' I replied, 'and I am he.' He looked at me rather dubiously for a moment, and then said, 'Are you sure?' It was, I told him, a good question because over time there had been many versions of Charles Handy, not all of which I was particularly proud."

Personal life and death

He was married to Elizabeth Handy (née Hill), a photographer, with whom he collaborated on a number of books, including ''The New Alchemists'' and ''A Journey through Tea''. Elizabeth died in a car accident in England on 5 March 2018, at the age of 77. They had two children. Handy died at his home in London on 13 December 2024, at the age of 92.

Books

Handy was the author of the following books: *''Understanding Organisations'' (1976) – . *''Gods of Management'' (1978) – . *''The Future of Work'' (1984) *''Understanding Schools'' (1986) *''Understanding Voluntary Organisations'' (1988) . *''The Age of Unreason'' (1989) – . *''Inside Organisations'' (1990) *''The Empty Raincoat'' (1994) – . US printing under title ''The Age of Paradox'' (1994) – . *''Waiting for the Mountain to Move'' (1995) *''Beyond Certainty'' (1995) – . *''The Hungry Spirit'' (1997) – . *''New Alchemists'' (1999) – . *''Thoughts for the Day'' (1999) – . – (first published in 1991 as Waiting for the Mountain to Move) *''The Elephant and the Flea'' (2001) – . *''A Journey through Tea'' – with Elizabeth Handy *''Re-invented lives'' (2002) *''Myself and Other More Important Matters'' (2006) – an autobiography and further reflections on life – . *''The New Philanthropists'' (2006) *''21 Ideas for Managers'' (2000) . *''The Second Curve'' (2015) .

References

External links

BBC Biography of Charles Handy

"Gods of Management" 1995Biography at the Thinkers 50
2005. .
The Handy Guide to the Gurus of Management
BBC. *Honore, C. (2000)
An Interview with Charles Handy (Part One)
Ivey Business Journal. *Honore, C. (2000)
An Interview with Charles Handy (Part Two)
Ivey Business Journal. *Bernhut, Stephen (2004)
An interview with Charles Handy
Ivey Business Journal.
"The Shift to Non-Standard Employment" on British Columbia's Workinfonet