The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Worker, by Mike Rose. Anyone involved in workforce education and economic development should read it. Rose makes a good case for the sophisticated problem-solving and other skills involved in so-called unskilled labor (e.g., waitressing, hairdressing). His take resonates with my academic work at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education on literacy and critical-thinking, as well as my professional business experience. Often clerical staff and those in the trenches have a greater knowledge of the tasks and expertise involved in performing a job than the managers supervising them.
Rose is originally from Altoona, location of the old Pennsylvania Railroad's main maintenance shop. His relatives worked for the railroad. His mother helped support his family as a waitress. Rose now works and teaches at UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.