Getting Things Done When You Are Not in Charge, 2nd Edition

Book description

You are not in charge and you want to make a difference: that is the dilemma. You may not know who is in charge in today's changing, temporary, and virtual organizations, but you know you are not! You are searching for ways to contribute through the work you do and gain some personal satisfaction in the process. This book can help you do just that.

In this new edition of his classic book, Geoff Bellman shows readers how to make things happen in any organization regardless of their formal position. The new edition has been written for a wider audience, including people in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, paid and volunteer workers, managers and individual contributors, contract and freelance workers. More than seventy percent of the material is brand new, including new examples, new chapters, new exercises, and much more.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Preface
    1. What This New Edition is About
    2. Why I Wrote This Book
    3. Who is This Book For
    4. How to Read This Book
    5. Acknowledgments
  6. Introduction: You are Not in Charge
    1. The Illusion: Someone is in Charge
    2. The Life Game
  7. Chapter 1: A Model for Getting Things Done
    1. An Exercise: Drawing Your Life 8
    2. What to Read Next
  8. Chapter 2: “Why is That Important?”
    1. An Exercise: What is Important 14
  9. Chapter 3: Pursuing Your Aspirations
    1. Know What You Want
    2. Know Why You Want What You Want
    3. Wants are Linked to Life Purpose
    4. Figure Out What You Want Before Talking About It
    5. Each Day Remind Yourself of What is Important
    6. Alignment of Wants Builds Power
    7. Lead Your Own Life
    8. Immediate Fulfillment Requires Immediate Action
    9. Distant Fulfillment Requires Persistence
    10. Know how You Want to Work With Others
  10. Chapter 4: Discovering Dreams
    1. Wants Always Exist
    2. Express the Dream
    3. Discover What They Want That You Want
    4. Build Commitment to Wants
    5. Reinvent the Wheel
    6. Help Them Know That You Know
    7. Collaboration and Negotiation: Your Best Options
    8. Competition and Avoidance: Not Your Best Options
  11. Chapter 5: What is Really Happening?
    1. Five Steps to Discovering Reality
    2. An Exercise: Organizational Reality
    3. Love of the Bumps
  12. Chapter 6: Build Common Understanding
    1. Help Others Find and Face the Truth
    2. The Organizational Village
    3. Building Understanding in Organizations
  13. Chapter 7: Face the Politics
    1. Politics are Real and Inescapable
    2. My Kind of Politics
    3. Your Mix of Politics and Values
    4. Building a Positive Political Climate
    5. Working Through Negative Political Situations
  14. Chapter 8: Seek the Priorities
    1. Follow the Money
    2. Trace the Time
    3. Find Your Power
    4. An Exercise: Building Formal Power
  15. Chapter 9: Who Makes a Difference?
    1. An Exercise: Successful Work Relationships
    2. Help Those Whom You Would Have Help You
    3. Respect the Past
    4. Deal Openly
    5. Create Your Relationship Web
  16. Chapter 10: Enlist Able Partners
    1. The Parts in Partnership
    2. Anticipating Success
    3. Contracts and Contracting
    4. Your Unique Value-Added Contribution
    5. Partnership Begins With You
    6. Build a Pattern of Accomplishments
    7. Pass the Word on Your Success
    8. Expect Less Appreciation
    9. Accept Others’ Lack of Knowledge
    10. Ask About What They Care About
    11. Risk Seeing it Their Way
    12. Say Yes . . . And Say No
    13. Long-Term Partnerships
  17. Chapter 11: Controlling Work Dynamics
    1. A Model for Working With You
    2. Our Need to Control
  18. Chapter 12: Dealing With Decision Makers
    1. Show and Earn Respect
    2. An Exercise: Building Respect
    3. They Don’t Understand Your Work
    4. Understand Their Purpose and Viewpoint
    5. Do Not Wait: Initiate!
    6. Link Your Work to Key Systems
    7. Seek Reviews of Your Work
    8. Find Ways to Offer Feedback
  19. Chapter 13: How Might You Help?
    1. An Exercise: Self Discovery
    2. I vs. They
    3. Out There vs. In Here
    4. Learning the Truth About Yourself
    5. Knowledge of Your Self
  20. Chapter 14: Find the Courage to Risk
    1. The Risks of Stepping Forward
    2. Putting Fears in Perspective
    3. Three Exercises: Building Your Courage
  21. Chapter 15: Making Your Work Rewarding
    1. Reaction and Reward
    2. The Rewards of Membership
    3. Making Your Work Rewarding
    4. Praise Fixation Breeds Dependence
    5. An Exercise: Rewards From Your Work
  22. Chapter 16: Create Change
    1. Stability Meets Instability
    2. The Need for Change Must be Compelling
    3. Leading Change is Demanding
    4. Change is Rooted in Respect
    5. Help Others Hear Your Ideas
    6. Resistance Reveals Power
    7. Perseverance Required
    8. Ideas Must Find Their Time
    9. The Dangers of Rapid Change
    10. Change in Changing Organizations
    11. Succeed On Their Terms as Well as Your Own
    12. Expect the Change to Allow You to be Yourself
  23. Chapter 17: Actions That Get Things Done
    1. Twenty Actions to Get Things Done
    2. Building on and Beyond This Book
  24. Conclusion: A Life Perspective on Leading Change
  25. Resources
  26. Index
  27. About the Author

Product information

  • Title: Getting Things Done When You Are Not in Charge, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Geoffrey M Bellman
  • Release date: September 2001
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781605092843