Unconstrained Thinking
-- A Political Process
Word association -- When I say "organizational politics," what comes to mind?
Is your response negative, positive, or neutral? Are organizational politics something you try to avoid? Or do you relish "the game" of complex interpersonal relationships? Or do you view politics simply as necessary for making meaningful things happen?
How one views the subject -- as power struggles, ego stroking, or just another tool -- will influence how one addresses it. Politics is just a catchall term that encompasses a spectrum of activity that ranges from clear communication to convincing persuasion to cajoling to conniving to coercion. To the extent that things in your organization get accomplished at the communication end of that spectrum versus coercion probably colors your feelings about omnipresent politics.
A culture based on effective realpolitik, i.e., pragmatic and practical politics, comes from clearly understanding and communicating where one wants to go, why to go there, and plans for getting there. Along the way, one needs to bring people to understand what's in it for them and that going there won't cause new problems.
One of the most important pieces of the TOC body of knowledge -- the Six Layers of Resistance (to change) -- provides a process to guide one through a potential political morass. In the order listed, focus on getting and moving from:
- Agreement on the real problem, to
- Agreement on a direction for a solution, to
- Agreement on the efficacy of the solution, to
- Agreement that the solution won’t cause new problems, to
- Agreement on a plan, and to
- Agreement to proceed
Logically addressing these steps, and making sure that earlier steps are dealt with before moving on to later ones, will help to turn political endeavors from one of conniving and coercion to growing collaboration and co-ownership.
Think about it . . .
©2002, Frank Patrick
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| Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. - Mahatma Gandhi |
This is one of a series of columns on improvement, TOC, constraint management, change management, systems thinking, uncommon sense, and whatever else comes into my mind. Suggestions for topics are welcome. - FP, 908-874-8664 or via the contact page of this site.
If you are interested in using these 1/2-page columns for your APICS, ASQ, PMI, or IIE newsletter, let me know through the same channels, and I'll send you the more easily usable MS Word versions.
-- Frank Patrick
Related links:
Unconstrained Thinking Index |
