Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Understanding healthcare systems -- Surviving work conversation: understanding healthcare systems -- Understanding healthcare systems -- From targets to teams -- Mindless measurements and nonsense data -- Downgraded jobs and degraded workers -- Actual leadership -- A crisis is not a catastrophe -- A relational model of care -- Keep walking the line -- 2 Start where you are -- Surviving work conversation: healthy organisations -- Start where you are -- Actual facts -- The policy context -- People get sick in a recession -- Decline in professional bodies and unions -- Why consciousness raising helps you survive work -- 3 Precarious work -- Surviving work conversation: precarious work -- The growth of precarious work -- The consequences of precarious work -- Downgrading clinical jobs -- 4 Precarious workers -- Surviving work conversation: precarious workers -- Precarious workers -- Superheroes and superegos -- Feeling like a failure -- Protecting yourself -- 5 Walk the line -- Surviving work conversation: walk the line -- Walk the line -- Between saying nothing and whistleblowing -- You seem angry, are you angry? -- You're being very negative -- Between love and hate -- 6 Groups and gangs -- Surviving work conversation: groups and gangs -- Groups and gangs -- The B word -- The internal bully -- Getting out of the playground -- Sweat the small stuff -- 7 How to make friends and influence people -- Surviving work conversation: how to make friends and influence people -- How to make friends and influence people -- The limits of the system -- Performance management in the NHS -- From targets to teams -- Democratic leadership -- Observe and learn -- Actually talking to people -- Creating safe spaces -- The democratic manager -- How to make friends and influence people