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Couples That Work: How Dual-Career Couples Can Thrive in Love and Work Kindle Edition

by Jennifer Petriglieri (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 149 ratings

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Finding fulfillment in both love and work isn't easy--but it's possible.

The majority of couples today are dual-career couples. As anyone who's part of such a relationship knows, this presents big challenges: trying to raise kids and achieve career goals while caring for and supporting your partner can seem impossible. Yet most advice for dual-career couples fails, framing the challenges as a zero-sum game in which one partner’s gain is the other's loss and solutions feel like sacrifices or unsatisfactory trade-offs.

This book is different. In Couples That Work, INSEAD professor Jennifer Petriglieri rejects conventional, one-size-fits-all solutions and instead focuses on how dual-career couples can tackle and resolve the challenges they face throughout their lives--together. She identifies three key phases of exploration and personal growth in every couple's work-life journey, showing how partners must navigate these together to strengthen their bond. Each phase is crystallized with a question:

How can we make this work? The first phase focuses on the logistics of combining two busy lives and often involves the demands of young children.
What do we really want? In the second phase, couples learn to navigate their midlife crises in ways that allow each partner to continue to feel happy and fulfilled.
Who are we now? With careers winding down and kids grown up, this last phase offers new freedoms--and uncertainties.

Based on a five-year research project, the book includes interviews with couples from over thirty countries--from executives to entrepreneurs and from twentysomething newlyweds to dual-career grandparents.

Filled with vivid real-life stories, keen insights, and engaging exercises, Couples That Work will help couples develop their own unique answers to that most pressing question: How can we successfully combine love and work?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you're one part of a dual-career couple, Couples That Work by Jennifer Petriglieri is a must-read." — Forbes

"In her illuminating debut, Petriglieri, professor of Organizational Behavior at European graduate school INSEAD, lucidly analyzes the phases of contentment and consternation that professional couples experience. This helpful work's strength lies in the clarity of Petriglieri's observations and her closeness to the couples she describes. Petriglieri's guidance will provide readers with practical strategies for establishing a healthy, supportive, and flexible bond with their partner." -- Publisher's Weekly

Advance Praise for Couples That Work:

"Jennifer Petriglieri hasn't just spent five years carefully studying the challenges of juggling two careers; she's lived them personally. In this book she shares what she's learned about how dual-career couples can not only survive but also thrive." -- Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author, Originals and Give and Take; host, TED WorkLife podcast

"Jennifer Petriglieri provides an elegantly simple yet profoundly insightful road map to the predictable transitions all couples traverse. Through her in-depth research and engrossing stories of couples of all ages, she reveals how each transition can be understood and embraced, leading to a more meaningful relationship and career--for both parties. It's a definite must-read for any dual-career couple." -- Herminia Ibarra, Professor of Organizational Behavior, London Business School; author, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader

"Jennifer Petriglieri offers practical, executable tasks and conversational prompts to help couples navigate challenging transitions and renegotiate a shared path as their lives and careers evolve over time. An inspirational read for anyone who is part of a dual-career couple." -- Whitney Johnson, author, Disrupt Yourself and Build an A Team

"Jennifer Petriglieri's insightful new book is an inspiring read for those trying to manage the many challenges that arise over the course of their professional lives. With extensive research, she explores the deeper dynamics of careers and relationships and offers wise advice and a hands-on approach for couples who want to help each other thrive at work and in their relationships." -- Terri Kelly, former CEO, W. L. Gore & Associates

"Through vivid life stories, eye-opening research, and insightful analysis, Jennifer Petriglieri shows dual-career couples how to navigate their path at any life stage. Couples That Work is a must-read for any couple committed to their relationship and to their careers." -- Francesca Gino, Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; bestselling author, Rebel Talent

About the Author

Jennifer Petriglieri is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD, Paris. She is Program Director for INSEAD's Management Acceleration Program and the Women Leaders Program. She designed and teaches INSEAD's most popular MBA elective, the Psychological Issues in Management course. An expert on dual-career couples, she is a popular keynote speaker and writes regularly for the Harvard Business Review. British by birth, Jennifer now lives in France with her Italian husband (who is also a professor at INSEAD) and their two children.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07MWDNZD3
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard Business Review Press (October 8, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 8, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1539 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 274 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0241379008

Best Sellers Rank: #450,892 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #124 in Work Life Balance in Business
- #351 in Career Guides
- #786 in Marriage & Long-Term Relationships

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4.5 149 ratings

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Jennifer Petriglieri

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Jennifer Petriglieri is an Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD, and the author of Couples That Work, a forthcoming book on how dual-career couples can thrive in love and in work.

Her award-winning research and teaching focus on identity, leadership, and career development. She is particularly interested in how people’s close relationships shape who they become professionally and personally, and how moments of uncertainty and crisis make us who we are.

Jennifer was shortlisted for the Thinkers50 New Thinker and Talent awards, and named one of the world’s best 40 business school professors under 40 by Poets & Quants.

A British citizen, Jennifer earned a PhD in Organisational Behaviour from INSEAD. She also holds an MBA from IMD, Switzerland, and a BSc in genetics from Nottingham University, UK. Prior to joining INSEAD, she was a Post-Doctoral Fellow of Organisational Behaviour at the Harvard Business School. Having lived and worked on three continents, she is now settled in France. She is terribly devoted to her husband Gianpiero and their two children. She finds joy in their dual-career life, in cooking, pottering in her garden and spending time in the mountains.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

149 global ratings

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Fatu

A must for a newly wed couple!

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2020

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This book sparked some of my most meaningful conversations with my husband. We've been married for less than a year and we're at the stage where we're figuring out how we make it work. Loved the guiding questions!

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2019

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Practical advice on how to make dual career couples work! My wife and I loved the book and utilized the advice with great effectiveness!

One person found this helpful

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LW

First of its kind

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2020

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This book brings significant data and insight to a very human problem. The stories are engaging and most people should be able to find something of their own relationship in the examples. Helpful, kind and respectful of human frailty. If you don't get something out of it, then you're not really trying.

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2020

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Great book for any couple looking to work together.

Helpful

Liana Slater, Monumental Me

Making work, life, love, and family actually work.

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2019

Jennifer Petriglieri gives us a compilation of some honest conversations about how hard it is to not only balance but actually succeed in juggling work, family, kids and marriage - for men and women. Through six years of academic research, including interviews of real dual career couples, this must-read book highlights key solutions to roadblocks to progress for women who work. Many of us know effective communication is key for a successful relationship, but this book gives us a framework and tools we can use now, no matter what life/career stage you are in. A couples contract? Yes! Thanks for the push. Reminding us to remain curious and proactive in our relationship? So important! When I am hard on myself as a mother I say I was a better parent before I had kids (the plan was 100% organic homemade meals, strict parenting, etc), I also believe that about my marriage and career (the plan was to communicate calmly, etc). In reality the fast-pace of life and frustrations kids can bring gets in the way of the best intentions, and this book reminds me to step back, check-in, communicate, and revisit and rework our plans so they work for making my marriage and my career work too.

8 people found this helpful

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Denny

Great Book for Dual Career Couples

Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2022

This is a great book for dual career couples. As opposed to most "self-help" books, this book is more than just one person's opinion. The author got data from several couples from several places and focuses on all of the things they did or didn't do that led to their success or failures. She then draws ideas and commonalities between all of these different experiences.
One of the other really great things about this book is that it's split into 3 sections, with each section focused on a different part of a couples journey. This allows any couple to pick it up and only read the section they are interested in/part of their journey they are in.
I actually bought multiple copies of this book to share out with others because of how helpful I found it for my husband and me. I plan on revisiting this book as our careers progress and we reach the other phases that these books identify.

Helpful

mary carey

A real roadmap of what works for one of the most complicated challenges there is.

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2019

Jennifer's book triggers a deluge of insights and really caused me to think both about how I have navigated our work and our couple in the past (and all the mistakes we made....) and more importantly - how to navigate our future. Backed by research and filled with real stories that bring her findings to life, Jennifer lays out a working strategy that couples can really use as they journey through what she crystallizes into 3 key phases of every couple's life. I myself am in the 3rd phase and will be buying this book for each of my four daughters who are all in phase 1. How lucky they are to have the benefit of Jennifer's research and wisdom so early in their couples and their careers.

2 people found this helpful

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Funk Dok

Too long and soporific for a burning hot topic

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2019

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Although the topic is very relevant today and sparked a lot of interest from me (living lots of dual-career couple challenges!) this book ultimately failed to keep me hooked, and I couldn’t finish it. The core messages are relevant, but the delivery falls short for 2 reasons.

1. Multiple parts are over explained to death and messages keep being repeated, with unnecessary scientific/academic wording sprinkled over. This dilutes the takeaways and my attention.

2. Also, in one occasion, personal experience from the author is dissected and presented as one of the first solutions in the book (contract notion). This undermines credibility, for a book that prides itself in having interviewed a wide range of couples.

In the end, I wish I had more patience, as I do want to learn all about the challenges and solutions to this topic. The current format just doesn’t work for me.
Why not make a short version of it, an in-depth article (I’d pay for it), that focuses on the main takeaways?

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

reader mg

Very useful examples of couples that work

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

Excellent book, will return to it again and again for the examples and lessons. Dual career couples face particular challenges, and the biggest lesson is that those challenges persist throughout time. A crisis moment can appear even after 20/30/40 years of marriage. It's all about how you deal with those moments.

One person found this helpful

Carmenru

100% recommended

Reviewed in Spain on December 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

Must read for couples who have dual careers. The book is filled with real examples, tools and tips on how to thrive both in love and work. It’s easy to read, practical and above all, really useful. Can’t recommend it enough.

Sujin Jang

A perfect balance of rigorous research and practical takeaways

Reviewed in France on October 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

I LOVED THIS BOOK. It helped me gain a deeper understanding of the challenges I’m facing as part of a dual career couple, which was both intellectually satisfying and practically invaluable. Although each couple has their own unique story, it was helpful to know that there are underlying patterns in the challenges we face at different stages of our lives and careers. What I appreciated most about the book is that it got me out of the day-to-day conversations (both those I have in my own head and those I have with my partner) regarding logistics and surface-level decisions, and helped me understand the deeper psychological forces underlying the challenges we face in navigating our careers together. The specific examples from various different couples (including the author’s own experience) really brought the research to life, and made reading this book feel like a series of thought-provoking conversations with good friends. A thoroughly enjoyable and eye-opening read.

3 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

A very good and useful book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2020

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very thoughtful and well written.

We are a dual career couple going through our first transition. The book has a lot of useful tips and realistic situations we discussed with my husband. I think it really helped to make our relationship deeper and understand more about each other.

One person found this helpful

Henning

Great book for couples to succeed in their careers and personal lives

Reviewed in France on October 11, 2019

Verified Purchase

The question I get asked most often when teaching entrepreneurship is how to combine the demanding professional life of being an entrepreneur with one’s personal life. A key issue – that most people tend to underestimate – is the need to establish an agreement with one’s personal partner. It is basically impossible to succeed in your venture and in your personal life if your partner is not on board. While this holds true for all kinds of working professionals, it is particularly true for entrepreneurs. The book by Jennifer Petriglieri provides clear insights on how to find an arrangement where couples succeed in their personal and in their professional life. What I liked most of the book is that it is based on years of research, but with clear hands-on practical implications. Highly recommended!

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