
Effective
How to Do Great Work in a Fast-Changing World
Melissa Swift(Author)
Wiley (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 12. May 2026
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-394-37749-7 (ISBN)
Description
Navigate the weird, chaotic world of modern work, no matter your position
While there's no shortage of advice on being amazing or avoiding burnout, what if you simply want to get things done in a workplace that feels increasingly impossible? Effective is here to help you get your job done well without losing your mind. Drawing from up-to-date research and provocative interviews with employees across industries and levels, renowned people consultant Melissa Swift offers a positive, well-illuminated path through the dark forest of destabilizing workplace changes.
Effective provides readers with:
Strategies to triumph amid four trends making work tough today: work intensification, emotional inflection, hyper-transparency, and sheer chaos
Practical, research-backed approaches to improve their daily work life, from entry-level employees to CEOs
Tips for maintaining competence in a working world seemingly designed to make you feel incompetent
Insights on how to make sure your personal sources of effectiveness don't get disrupted by technological change
Lessons to be learned from jobs where you simply cannot screw up, such as firefighters and air traffic controllers, and how to apply them to a corporate environment
Effective delivers useful content for every level of seniority, teaching readers a new paradigm-shifting approach to thrive in the modern world of work.
While there's no shortage of advice on being amazing or avoiding burnout, what if you simply want to get things done in a workplace that feels increasingly impossible? Effective is here to help you get your job done well without losing your mind. Drawing from up-to-date research and provocative interviews with employees across industries and levels, renowned people consultant Melissa Swift offers a positive, well-illuminated path through the dark forest of destabilizing workplace changes.
Effective provides readers with:
Strategies to triumph amid four trends making work tough today: work intensification, emotional inflection, hyper-transparency, and sheer chaos
Practical, research-backed approaches to improve their daily work life, from entry-level employees to CEOs
Tips for maintaining competence in a working world seemingly designed to make you feel incompetent
Insights on how to make sure your personal sources of effectiveness don't get disrupted by technological change
Lessons to be learned from jobs where you simply cannot screw up, such as firefighters and air traffic controllers, and how to apply them to a corporate environment
Effective delivers useful content for every level of seniority, teaching readers a new paradigm-shifting approach to thrive in the modern world of work.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
516 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-394-37749-7 (9781394377497)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
MELISSA SWIFT is a leading voice on how organizations, teams, and individuals can succeed in an ever more challenging world of work.
As founder and CEO of Anthrome Insight, she is a practicing consultant and keynote speaker helping -organizations with data-driven views and concrete actions to shape a -productive future in chaotic times. She has held consulting leadership roles at Capgemini, Mercer, Korn Ferry, and Deloitte, and is also the author of Work Here Now: Think Like a Human and Build a Powerhouse Workplace.
Her quarterly columns in MIT Sloan Management Review often rank among their most-read articles. Swift speaks regularly at events including the MIT CIO Symposium, and has been -featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and Newsweek.
Visit AnthromeInsight.com
As founder and CEO of Anthrome Insight, she is a practicing consultant and keynote speaker helping -organizations with data-driven views and concrete actions to shape a -productive future in chaotic times. She has held consulting leadership roles at Capgemini, Mercer, Korn Ferry, and Deloitte, and is also the author of Work Here Now: Think Like a Human and Build a Powerhouse Workplace.
Her quarterly columns in MIT Sloan Management Review often rank among their most-read articles. Swift speaks regularly at events including the MIT CIO Symposium, and has been -featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and Newsweek.
Visit AnthromeInsight.com
Content
Preface ix
Part I Being Effective 1
1 The Simple Power of Being Effective 3
2 Building Your Effectiveness Architecture to Withstand a Changing World 25
3 The Ground Floor of Your Effectiveness Architecture: Knowledge and Methods 37
4 The Second Floor of Your Effectiveness Architecture: People and Technology 55
5 The Shockingly Consistent Playbook for Effectiveness in High- Stakes Jobs 77
Part II Combatting Forces That Challenge Effectiveness 99
6 Effectiveness Through Battling Work Intensification 101
7 Effectiveness Through Managing Workplace Emotion Appropriately 121
8 Effectiveness Through Harnessing Transparency Properly 139
9 Effectiveness Through Wrestling Down Chaos 163
Part III An Effective Future 185
10 What to Do (Next) When Effectiveness Is Not Possible 187
11 The Future of Effectiveness 205
Appendix: The Effectiveness Self- Assessment 213
Notes 217
Acknowledgments 229
About the Author 233
Index 235
Part I Being Effective 1
1 The Simple Power of Being Effective 3
2 Building Your Effectiveness Architecture to Withstand a Changing World 25
3 The Ground Floor of Your Effectiveness Architecture: Knowledge and Methods 37
4 The Second Floor of Your Effectiveness Architecture: People and Technology 55
5 The Shockingly Consistent Playbook for Effectiveness in High- Stakes Jobs 77
Part II Combatting Forces That Challenge Effectiveness 99
6 Effectiveness Through Battling Work Intensification 101
7 Effectiveness Through Managing Workplace Emotion Appropriately 121
8 Effectiveness Through Harnessing Transparency Properly 139
9 Effectiveness Through Wrestling Down Chaos 163
Part III An Effective Future 185
10 What to Do (Next) When Effectiveness Is Not Possible 187
11 The Future of Effectiveness 205
Appendix: The Effectiveness Self- Assessment 213
Notes 217
Acknowledgments 229
About the Author 233
Index 235

