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Slideshow about Practical office politics by Eric Tachibana
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most people 1 2 3 4 5 6 Politics is bad, but I can live with it. I’ll just ignore it Politics is annoying, but I recognize that it is probably just a fact of corporate life. I’ll play the game when I have to, hopefully not too often Politics is bearable. Politics is generally good & we should all get better at it. There is a place for politics in work Corporate politics is a wonderful, fun, and exciting tool that yields better decisions for companies. We need more of it! Politics is caused by a bunch of scheming, self-serving, scam artists that waste energy & time. We need none of it!
how I want you to answer after this deck 1 2 3 4 5 6 Politics is bad, but I can live with it. I’ll just ignore it Politics is annoying, but I recognize that it is probably just a fact of corporate life. I’ll play the game when I have to, hopefully not too often Politics is bearable. Politics is generally good & we should all get better at it. There is a place for politics in work Corporate politics is a wonderful, fun, and exciting tool that yields better decisions for companies. We need more of it! Politics is caused by a bunch of scheming, self-serving, scam artists that waste energy & time. We need none of it!
Q1: What bad experiences have you had with office politics that create your assumptions? Q2: Is an office without politics preferable? Q3: Is an office without politics possible?
politics is natural & unavoidable because people will always have different and legitimate beliefs, issues, wants, needs, and sources of power
those differences are created biologically, environmentally, &because of organizational structure
so we’re all stuck with the differences however much we wish it were not so
there must be a process to resolve conflicts that arise from these natural and unavoidable differences
and last but not least, politics exist once there are two or more people
Lying • Cheating • Stealing • Back Stabbing • Ego Tripping • Sucking Up • Manipulating • Self promotion • General Ignorance, which causes political pain to those around you
Fair distribution of resources • The ability to invest in future firm returns, with no immediate silo gains • Protection of minority interests • Ethical decision making • Strategic prioritization • Reduction of authoritarianism • Protection from “bad politics” • Engaging with bad politics rather than sticking our heads in the sand
Get your projects up the priority list • Get resources or funding for your project & team • Clear project barriers • Influence decision making • Compensation, acknowledgement and advancement • Get hard shit done • Help others succeed • Survive change and avoid trouble
“Politics has such a bad name that many good people persuade themselves they want nothing to do with it. The ethical and spiritual apprehensions are understandable. But one cannot abjure politics.” – John Gardner
“There is no doubt power can be used for evil purposes. Of course most medicines can kill if taken wrongly, thousands die in automobile accidents each year, and nuclear power can provide energy or mass destruction. We do not abandon chemicals, cars or nuclear power. Instead we consider danger an incentive to get proper training.” – Jeffrey Pfeffer
“Of course leaders are preoccupied with power! The significant questions are: What means do they use to gain it? How do they exercise it? And to what ends do they exercise it?” – John Gardner
“It is not enough for a leader to know the right thing. He must be able to do the right thing. Leaders without the judgment or perception to make the right decisions fail for lack of vision. Those who know the right thing, but cannot achieve it, fail because they are ineffectual.” • Richard Nixon
1 2 3 4 5 6 I find it very difficult to get what I want done outside the scope of my direct reports I sometimes get what I want done, so long as my interests are aligned with the interests of dependent parties I sometimes get what I want done, even if my interests are misaligned with the interests of dependent parties I often get what I want done, even if my interests are misaligned with the interests of dependent parties I’m totally hopeless. Unless I have the authority to beat someone to death if they don’t comply, dependent resources simply do whatever they want I use Jedi mind powers on others – “these are not the droids that you are looking for”
Authority (or else) What I’m good at and like What I need to use daily Q: Are there dangers of using each axis too much or too little? Culture (it’s right!) Politics (It’s in our interests)
so with all that said, it is time to propose the basic rule of ethical politics
but, in the process, never advance your own interests by harming the business or by hurting other people
ok, so let’s assume that you agree with me that you should be better at politics
in that case, the next step is to develop your Political Intelligence and a plan to build and use your power
Title & “vestiges” of power (think corner office) • Authority to act within a specific scope • Control of the allocation, access to, and use of specific resources “that others need” • Objective-setting, appraisal & compensation approval • Access to Information • Location in the info/social web • Centrality – how often you proxy • Connectedness – how many nodes you touch • Closeness – How close are you to connected nodes • Complexity – The # of nodes unique to you
political wisdom sidebar Seasoned players know how to “create” resources to control! Defend your positional power from encroachment by other managers – But no Evil Politics!
extra credit who has positional power around you? Why do they have it?