The Book of Agreement

The Book of Agreement

by Stewart Levine
Released November 2002
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781605093352

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Book description

Crafting agreements with others is a fundamental life skill. Unfortunately, we were never taught how to do it. The agreements most people make are incomplete and ineffective-they usually focus on protecting against what might go wrong instead of figuring out how to make things go right. The Book of Agreement offers a new approach. Stewart Levine demonstrates the superiority of "agreements for results" versus "agreements for protection" and outlines ten principles for creating agreements that explicitly articulate desired outcomes and provide a roadmap to achieving them. He includes over thirty specific templates that can be used to create this new type of agreement for results in a variety of organizational and personal contexts.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. What Thought Leaders Are Saying About The Book of Agreement
  5. Also by Stewart Levine Getting to Resolution: Turning Conflict into Collaboration
  6. FOREWORD
  7. PREFACE
    1. Acknowledgments
  8. INTRODUCTION: WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF AGREEMENT AND RESOLUTION
    1. Agreements for Results
    2. Getting to Resolution
    3. Contents
    4. Contexts
    5. Business Organizations
    6. The Government
    7. The Not-for-Profit Sector
    8. Changing Personal Demographics
  9. PART I: THE FOUNDATION: LAW, PRINCIPLES, ELEMENTS, AND TEMPLATES
    1. CHAPTER 1: THE LAW OF AGREEMENT
      1. LAW OF AGREEMENT
      2. PRINCIPLES OF AGREEMENT
      3. THE BASIC LAW
    2. CHAPTER 2: THE TEN ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE AGREEMENTS
      1. Capital Kids Operational Agreement
    3. CHAPTER 3: THREE FACETS OF AGREEMENT
    4. CHAPTER 4: THE NEW MINDSET: AGREEMENTS FOR RESULTS
      1. Comparison: Agreements for Results and Agreements for Protection
    5. CHAPTER 5: ARE THEY LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACTS?
      1. Agreements for Results Are Legally Binding Contracts
      2. Legalese Is Not Required
      3. Protection Permissible
      4. Training Your Lawyer
    6. CHAPTER 6: WHEN CONFLICT SURFACES: THE RESOLUTIONARY MODEL
  10. PART II: ORGANIZATIONAL APPLICATIONS
    1. CHAPTER 7: EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS
      1. Employment Agreement
    2. CHAPTER 8: SENIOR EXECUTIVE TEAMS
      1. Agreement
    3. CHAPTER 9: AGREEMENTS WITH SUPPLIERS
      1. Operating Agreement
    4. CHAPTER 10: SALES AGREEMENTS
      1. Standard Auto Sales Agreement Clauses
      2. We Pledge to You
    5. CHAPTER 11: TEAM AGREEMENTS
      1. Team Agreement
    6. CHAPTER 12: DIVERSITY AGREEMENTS
      1. Diversity Pledge
    7. CHAPTER 13: LEARNING AGREEMENTS
      1. Learning Agreement
    8. CHAPTER 14: JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENTS
      1. Law Firm Management Institute
    9. CHAPTER 15: AGREEMENTS BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS
      1. Collaboration Agreement
    10. CHAPTER 16: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AGREEMENTS
      1. Curing the Appraisal “Virus”
    11. CHAPTER 17: FEEDBACK AGREEMENTS
      1. Participation Agreement for a Feedback Environment
    12. CHAPTER 18: DELEGATION AGREEMENTS
      1. Delegating for Effectiveness
    13. CHAPTER 19: BOARD OF DIRECTORS AGREEMENTS
      1. Board of Directors Agreement
    14. CHAPTER 20: STOCKHOLDERS AGREEMENTS
      1. Agreement with Shareholders
    15. CHAPTER 21: STAKEHOLDERS AGREEMENTS
      1. Stakeholder’s Agreement
    16. CHAPTER 22: COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS
      1. Agreement of Good Citizenship
  11. PART III: PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS
    1. CHAPTER 23: CONSULTANTS
      1. Letter Agreement
    2. CHAPTER 24: PERSONAL COACHES
      1. Agreement for Coaching Services
    3. CHAPTER 25: THERAPISTS
      1. Program Participation Agreement
    4. CHAPTER 26: PHYSICIANS, DENTISTS, AND HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS
      1. New Patient Agreement for Healthcare
    5. CHAPTER 27: REALTORS
      1. Agreement for Real Estate Services
    6. CHAPTER 28: BUILDING CONTRACTORS
      1. Agreement for Residential Construction
    7. CHAPTER 29: FINANCIAL PLANNERS
      1. Financial Planning Service
    8. CHAPTER 30: LAWYERS
      1. Legal Services Agreement
  12. PART IV: PERSONAL APPLICATIONS
    1. CHAPTER 31: AGREEMENTS WITH YOURSELF
      1. Agreement for Creating My Perfect Job
    2. CHAPTER 32: AGREEMENTS WITH SPOUSES OR DOMESTIC PARTNERS
      1. Our Marriage Agreement
    3. CHAPTER 33: AGREEMENT ENDING A MARRIAGE
      1. Memorandum of Understandings (MOU)
    4. CHAPTER 34: A NUCLEAR FAMILY AGREEMENT
      1. Our Family Agreement
    5. CHAPTER 35: AGREEMENT WITH EXTENDED FAMILIES
      1. Smithfield Family Agreement
    6. CHAPTER 36: AGREEMENT WITH PARENTS
      1. Family Transition Agreement
    7. CHAPTER 37: AGREEMENT BETWEEN PARENTS
      1. Cooperative Positive Parenting
  13. PART V: CREATING A CULTURE OF AGREEMENT AND RESOLUTION
    1. CHAPTER 38: THE BENEFITS OF A CULTURE OF AGREEMENT
      1. The Cost of Conflict
      2. Direct Costs
      3. Productivity Cost
      4. Continuity Cost
      5. Emotional Cost
      6. Why So Expensive?
      7. The Value of Agreements for Results
    2. CHAPTER 39: CREATING A CULTURE OF AGREEMENT: MANAGING BY AGREEMENT, THE NEW MBA
      1. A Challenging Time for Organizations
      2. The Source of Dissonance and Conflict
      3. The Management Opportunity
      4. How MBA Works
      5. The Art of Agreement
      6. The Ten Elements of Agreement
      7. The Seven-Step Process of Resolution
    3. CHAPTER 40: DESIGNING AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
      1. Guiding Principles
  14. ENDNOTES
  15. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
  16. INDEX
  17. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  18. RESOLUTIONWORKS

Product information

  • Title: The Book of Agreement
  • Author(s): Stewart Levine
  • Release date: November 2002
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781605093352