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Book Review/Introducing

The New Alchemists: How Visionary People Make Something Out of Nothing

By Charles Handy

Hutchinson Random House 2001

Charles Handy's 'The New Alchemists' is a study of 29 London based 'alchemists' who have, in their different ways, made something out of nothing; they have turned metaphorical base metal into gold. (They aren't all rich so, sometimes, the gold is metaphorical too!) The new alchemists are 'ordinary people who have gone on to do extraordinary things'.

The book devotes short sections to each alchemist. Some are household names such as Richard Branson, Terance Conran and Tim Waterstone, but most are only famous in their chosen sphere. Whilst each mini-biography is gripping, the most thought-provoking parts of the book are the chapters where Charles Handy reflects on his findings and tries to make sense of it all.

The whole book is in effect a celebration of diversity. Try as Handy might (and he does try!) to tease out the common denominators, the characteristic that shines through most is the uniqueness of each individual. It is a classic example of the exception proving the rule. Charles Handy does, however, manage to identify three shared characteristics ; dedication (they are passionate), doggedness (they are energetic) and difference (they are mavericks).

The paradox of attempting to find common characteristics is not lost on Charles Handy. 'Alchemy is unruly, it leaps boundaries, breaks out of boxes, defies conventions'. He might well have added 'and refuses to be categorised'.

The most interesting chapter is the one that explores the seeds of alchemy, the conditions that allow alchemists to discover and grow their talents. In exploring his 29 subjects, Handy finds some promising strands. Alchemy thrives in what he describes as 'a culture of experimentation'. Places have a lot to do with it and Handy cites vibrant cities in particular where clusters of creative people, in close proximity, infect each other. Schools and an overloaded curriculum come in for the usual criticisms.

Handy wants children to be

• less cosseted,
• to be exposed to an ever wider range of experiences as they grow up,
• to have more opportunities to discover what they are good at, more chances to test their curiosity by experiment,
• to learn that mistakes aren't fatal and that change is exciting.

He suggests, in passing, that we should be less fixated about keeping the young in school till 18, that perhaps the formal school day should be confined to mornings only with the afternoons devoted to offering a range of experiences and opportunities to experiment.

Charles Handy's alchemists aren't very good at describing how they do it - they can only demonstrate it, not articulate it. It takes someone like Handy to do the describing for them and in doing so to provide us all with encouraging role models to emulate.

If you are a parent wishing to increase the likelihood (no guarantees!) of rearing an alchemist the recipe would seem to be

• exposure to lots of new situations and experiences
• mixing with a wide variety of stimulating people
• masses of encouragement with experimentation and risk taking
• appreciation of difference and naughtiness.

Oh, and if you have a child who gets bored quickly that's probably a good sign!

'The New Alchemists' looks like a coffee-table book (and none the worse for that; prospective alchemists probably only dip into books rather than studying them), but it offers lessons for us all, policy makers, workers and parents alike.

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