How I teach "Getting Things Done" at the Kennedy School: an outline

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09/08/2014

How I teach "Getting Things Done" at the Kennedy School: an outline

Every year I get people outside of Boston asking me about the course I teach at the Harvard Kennedy School called "Getting Things Done: Management in the Development Context." There is interest in the course partly because of its applied title: "What do you teach in that course, some ask?"

I thought I would try something out this semester, and offer a window into the course by putting the list of lectures online, details for classes online, and some video descriptions and powerpoints online.

The course outline is as follows. You will see we are already two classes into the course:

Course Outline in Brief

	Day	Date	Topic
*1. The challenge of getting things done, and prominent ideas to do this*
1	Fri	Sep 5	Problems with getting things done, and a strategy for this course
2	Mon	Sep 8	Scientific management and classical bureaucratic theory
3	Weds	Sep 10	What to watch for when using bureaucratic solutions*
4	Mon	Sep 15	A New Public Management to get things done?
5	Weds	Sep 17	When results metrics, targets and the like works (and when it does not)*
6	Mon	Sep 22	When contracting out and the like works (and when not)
7	Weds	Sep 24	What does ‘getting things done’ mean anyway?
8	Mon	Sep 29	First in-class test
*2. A new way of thinking about getting things done*
9	Weds	Oct 1	Capability traps: Why things don’t ‘get done’ despite past management ‘solutions’
10	Mon	Oct 6	PDIA: Principles to get things done (and out of the big stuck)*
*2.1. Taking context seriously to get things done*
11	Weds	Oct 8	The context: What matters, and how does it all impact getting things done?
	Mon	Oct 13	HOLIDAY: NO CLASS
12	Weds	Oct 15	Problems: Windows to see into contexts and vehicles to enter*
13	Mon	Oct 20	Problem driven work in practice: How do you do it?
14	Weds	Oct 22	The politics and practice of problem driven work: Lessons from the field*
*2.2. Finding and fitting the right content*
15	Mon	Oct 27	Breaking down the ‘content demands’ of our interventions?
16	Wed	Oct 29	Principles for finding and fitting relevant content (that can be done)*
17	Mon	Nov 3	Using design thinking and rapid results to find and fit content
18	Weds	Nov 5	Doing evaluation that leads to learning and improves the fit of content to context*
	Mon	Nov 10	HOLIDAY: NO CLASS
19	Wed	Nov 12	Second in-class test
*2.3. Engaging the right agents*
20	Mon	Nov 17	Common mistakes policy wonks make re. ‘who’ to engage in getting things done
21	Wed	Nov 19	What agents are required to get things done?*
22	Mon	Nov 24	Using teams as mechanisms for agency engagement: Basics.
	Wed	Nov 26	HOLIDAY: NO CLASS
23	Mon	Dec 1	Using coalitions as mechanisms for agency engagement: Basics
*Wrap up*
24	Wed	Dec 3	Using this class beyond this class

Posted at 12:28 PM in Getting Things Done at Harvard | Permalink

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09/08/2014