What if we're asking the wrong question?
We talk about engagement as though it is something people either have or lack. We measure it, manage it and look for ways to improve it. But what if engagement is not simply a quality of the individual? What if it tells us something about the relationship between people and the systems they are part of?
Look again
When someone challenges a decision, declines an opportunity or stops contributing, it is easy to explain the behaviour as a problem with the person. The Engagement Inversion asks us to pause before making that judgement. What is the system asking of them? What comes back when they contribute? What might their response tell us that we have not yet understood?
Ask a better question
This is not another definition of engagement, nor another collection of techniques for making people more engaged. It is an invitation to look differently. Through a series of questions and practical explorations, the book examines what happens between people and systems — and what becomes possible when we stop trying to explain people too quickly and start asking better questions.