Writing a book, contrary to popular belief, is far from a solitary pursuit.

Work Disrupted has been a team project from the start. Suzanne Riss, a talented writer, editor, researcher, and author, has patiently worked with me every week for the past 18 months to help me craft my ideas, observations, and analysis into the stories and narrative that comprise this book. Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist, a unique cartoonist and illustrator, and irrepressible personality, worked with us for more than a year to create the 25 cartoons that bring the stories in this book to life.

Jim Guszcza, Deloitte's chief data scientist, has been an amazing partner in developing my ideas on human–machine collaboration. He reviewed every chapter of the book and provided invaluable feedback. John Hagel, John Seely Brown (JSB), and Maggie Wooll, the leaders of Deloitte's Center for the Edge, were sources of insights and inspiration throughout the process; their ideas flow through many of the chapters in this book. Others, including Bill Eggers, of Deloitte, and Rob Norman, the former global chief digital officer of Group M, reviewed and provided comments on chapters in the book.

I am grateful to more than two dozen leading thinkers and pioneers in the future of work who generously participated in interviews for the book and I thank them for hours of dynamic, thought-provoking conversations, and for sharing their unique insights in this book. My thanks to this group, which included Michael Arena, John Seely Brown, Erik Brynjolfsson, Mette Buchman, Allan Cooke, Tom Davenport, Dave Deming, Bill Eggers, Lynda Gratton, John Hagel, Mark Holmstrom, Louis Hyman, Jerry Kane, Micha Kaufman, Gideon Lichfield, Thomas Malone, Erica Muhl, Doug Ready, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Kristen Swanson, Gillian Tett, Eric Topol, Dave Ullrich, Susan Winterberg, Amy Wrzesniewski, and Arthur Yeung.

This book grew out of my roles in Deloitte Consulting, in the United States and globally, as a senior partner in our Human Capital consultancy, a leader in the creation of our future of work offerings, and a senior advisor in our workforce transformation practice. Special thanks to Erica Volini, Heather Stockton, and Brett Walsh, the global leaders of our Human Capital practice, for their leadership in working to develop these ideas and their generous, ongoing support as co-creators of our future of work practice. Robin Jones and David Brown, leaders of our workforce transformation practice, and Steve Hatfield, the global leader of our future of work practice, have been amazing teammates and collaborators. And my thanks to Juliet Bourke, a partner in Deloitte Australia, for shaping our early perspectives on work, worker, and workplace, a key component of the scaffolding underlying my research and this book.

For the past several years, this book has been supported by Deloitte Consulting’s leadership as one of our firm's Signature Issues. Thanks to Michael Stephan, U.S. leader of Human Capital; Andrew Blau, the managing director of the Signature Issues program; and our U.S. Consulting CEO, Dan Helfrich.

Over the past year, I have benefited enormously from project management provided by Lissa Tucker and Krista Bassett. In the first months of Covid-19, Lissa kept us on track and focused to deliver the manuscript. Rohini Menezes and Caitlin Pike, consultants on our Workforce Transformation team, provided indispensable support as this book grew from idea, to proposal, to manuscript, to the book you're reading today. Researchers from Deloitte in the United States and South Africa assisted with research and fact-checking. My thanks to Isabel Hayes, Sabrina Knott, Shaune Littleton, Talitha Muller, Blake Winters, and Sam Yarnis. Their focus on the myriad details and notes in this book was invaluable. At the end of the day, I accept and am responsible for any errors and omissions.

Thanks to Richard Narramore, our executive editor, and Victoria Anllo at John Wiley & Sons, who guided me, as a first-time author, through the publishing process.

Finally, a personal note of thanks and appreciation to my partner, Kate Marber. Anyone who has written a book understands the sacrifices and strains on relationships and family. For all those weekends, and there were many, and all those late nights, and there were many of those too, and for all her encouragement and support, thank you.

Jeff Schwartz

New York