Home > Store

Your Job Survival Guide: A Manual for Thriving in Change

Register your product to gain access to bonus material or receive a coupon.

Your Job Survival Guide: A Manual for Thriving in Change

eBook (Watermarked)

  • Your Price: $15.99
  • List Price: $19.99
  • About Watermarked eBooks
  • This PDF will be accessible from your Account page after purchase and requires the free Adobe® Reader® software to read it.

    The eBook requires no passwords or activation to read. We customize your eBook by discreetly watermarking it with your name, making it uniquely yours.

    Watermarked eBook FAQ

Description

  • Copyright 2009
  • Pages: 280
  • Edition: 1st
  • eBook (Watermarked)
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-715520-4
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-715520-0

Selected by IBM Competitive Edge Book Club Selection. 

"The beauty of this book on top of its life-saving timeliness is its capacity to give the reader concrete steps to live the good life and enjoy it.  The book made me understand that work can be more fun than fun.”

–Warren Bennis, Ph.D., University Professor, University of Southern California, coauthor, Judgment: How Great Leaders Make Winning Calls and Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor

Change. It’s your job. It just won’t stop. It’s relentless. It keeps coming at you like never-ending rapids in a permanent whitewater river. Change will burn you out if you don’t learn how to handle it. This book is not, however, about mere survival.  It is about thriving amidst the challenges of your permanent whitewater world at work. 

•Protect your career, improve your resilience, and seize the opportunities in turbulent times

•Take charge, learn to pace yourself, set your own course, and lead others in ad-hoc teams

•Ride the rapids and rediscover play and adventure in today’s demanding work environment 

•Learn from research and the experiences of hundreds of professionals in industries from energy to telecommunications to financial services to health care

There’s nothing abstract or cute about the way this book talks about change: This is practical, grounded knowledge for managing your life in a business world that’s churning with change. Gregory Shea, Ph.D. and Robert Gunther show how to keep your working life on course instead of being pushed beyond your limits...find fun and fulfillment...regroup and rebound from failure...protect yourself from events you can’t predict...take charge of your life, an your future!

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Preface: We Surely All Will Die xix

CHAPTER 1: AN ESKIMO ON THE TITANIC 1

    Dangerous Waters 3

    Sailors and Paddlers:Your Real Job Is Change 6

    The Limits of Flat-Water Thinking 9

CHAPTER 2: WORKING THE EDDIES: Pace Yourself to Preserve Your Sanity 13

    All Hands on Deck 17

    We Are Drowning in Change 19

        The Impact of Exhaustion 22

    Strategies for Pacing 25

        Create a “Not To Do” List 27

        Build Breaks in the Action 30

        Get Good Sleep 32

        Take a Nap 33

        Enforce Vacations 35

        Avoid the Perils of the Crazy Brave and Phony Tough 38

    Keep a Roll in Reserve 41

CHAPTER 3: MASTERING THE ROLL: Prepare to Fail Gracefully and Recover Quickly 45

    Failure Is the Only Option 48

    Strategies for Failing Quickly and Recovering Gracefully 52

        Treat Your Career as a Series of Experiments 52

        Minimize the Risk of Failure 54

        Master the Emotions of Failure 56

        Practice Failing 57

        Prepare to Learn from Failure 59

        Make Your Mistakes on the Move 60

    Failing and Play 62

CHAPTER 4: THE POWER OF PLAY: Optimism and Resilience 65

    The Play’s the Thing 66

    The Power of Optimism 70

    Strategies for Unsinkable Optimism 71

        Create Optimism and Avoid Learned Helplessness 72

        When All Else Fails, Paddle Like Hell 74

    Choose Your Equipment for the Right Level of Fun 75

        Patience: Keep Your Feet Up and Go With the Flow 77

        Recharge by Paddling 79

        Create Time and Space for Play 80

    Cultivate Exuberance 81

CHAPTER 5: PERSONAL FLOTATION: You Are Responsible for Your Own Security 85

    Sink or Swim 89

    Strategies for Personal Flotation 91

        Learn Self-Rescue by Developing Your “Brand You” 91

        Build a Portfolio of Projects 92

        Practice Your Offside Roll: Cultivate Diverse Skills to Increase Maneuverability 93

        Create Strong Networks 98

        Take Care of Your Health 100

    Alone in a Tight Place 101

CHAPTER 6: SCOUTING AND PORTAGING: Set Your Own Course 103

    Meaning Is Local 105

    Get Out When You Hear the Roarof the Falls 109

    Strategies for Scouting and Portaging 112

        Listen to the River: Read the Water 112

        Develop Your Intuition and Then Listen to It 115

        Listen to Others: Learn from Reports of

        Fellow Travelers 120

        Know When To Portage 123

        Recognize When You Are Drowning 126

        Listen to Your Heart 131

        When in Doubt, Scout 133

    The Phoenix 134

CHAPTER 7: RISING ABOVE THE ROAR: Communicate Through Symbols 137

    Strategies for Communicating Above the Roar 140

        Actions Speak Louder Than Words 140

        Maintain a Line of Sight 142

        Never Risk a Lie–Even Unintentionally 144

        Ensure Two-Way Communication 147Create Space to Grieve: Funerals, Irish Wakes, Slicing

        Nursing Stations, and Other Symbolic Events 149

        Make Sense of What Happened: Share Stories

        Around the Fire 152

        Use Myths to Create Meaning 153

        Use Metaphors 156

    Finding Meaning and Shaping a Legacy 157

CHAPTER 8: BUILDING FLOCKS: Teaming for Today’s Run 163

    Murmurations of Starlings:Teams Have a Life of Their Own 165

    Strategies for Teaming 167

        Know What You Bring to the Team 168

        Know Your Teammates 169

        Become Skilled at Entering and Leaving Teams 171

        Find Safety in Numbers 173

        Understand What Game You Are Playing 175

        Choose the Right Vessel 179

        Understand the Working of Teams 181

    The Power of the Team 183

CHAPTER 9: LEADING TRIPS: Guiding Through Permanent Whitewater 187

    Leading in Permanent Whitewater 188

        Understand Power and Influence on the River 189

        Build Trust 193

        Stepping Aside: Manage Shifting Roles 194Enabling Leaders and Following Followers:

        Stepping Up to Leadership 196

        Assembling the Right Team 199

        Structuring the Team 200

    Humility and the Art of Leading from Behind 201

Conclusion, What Conclusion? 205

    Building the G-Rig 207

    The Rivers Are Rising 208

    No Place to Hide–But Why Would You Want To? 215

Endnotes 219

Index 231

Updates

Submit Errata

More Information

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020