Hidden Agenda References Hard to Find

 

One of our members wrote to me recently asking I knew of any references for "hidden agendas". He was smart to ask. Being able to anticipate, identify and handle hidden agendas can, for example,  help you  interact effectively with managers of those who make up your project workforce. Unfortunately, I do not know any author who has written specifically on this topic. From what I can see, there remains only one category of books consistently covering this topic, books on negotiation.

 This is good, but not necessarily what we want all the time.

It is good that negotiation books cover hidden agendas because often your interactions with managers of work groups are in fact negotiations, whether you know it or not. The negotiation might be over

• Gaining the full complement of workers you need
• Getting workers to follow a certain process
• Getting  a manager's acceptance of changes caused by your project.

Classics like Getting to Yes and Getting Past No are designed to help you in any negotiations. There is a lot about negotiations that are relevant to you as a project manager. Being a good negotiator is a practical managerial/leadership skill.

Books on negotiation are sometimes inadequate because you are not always in a formal negotiation. A better term for your interaction with a manager is "collaboration." Collaboration is different enough that we would like to have a dedicated reference that includes dealing specifically with hidden agendas during long-term working relationships. 

Do you know of a book that provides specific guidance for anticipating, identifying and dealing with hidden agendas in project management or other collaborations? Respond to let us know.