Organisational Politics

Organisational Politics

Organisational politics helps explain how human factors contribute to things going wrong or right. By organisational politics, I mean the strategies and tactics (involving influence, power, etc.) that people in an organisation use to

• achieve favourable outcomes for the organisation and themselves, and
• avoid unfavourable consequences for the organisation and themselves.

We can see how organisational outcomes (e.g. a new zero‐carbon strategy or launching a new product) can be closely linked to personal outcomes (e.g. where you personally might play a vital role in the new strategy or in launching the new product). Note also how politics is not just about getting things done, it's also about being able to stop things from being done; so, if you think drilling a new oil well will conflict with a zero‐carbon goal, you might try, and perhaps succeed, in stopping it.

Consequently, there are two fundamental points that I regard as a ‘base camp’ in some of the training courses I run and when coaching clients about organisational politics:

1. Organisational politics will take place around you, whether you choose to engage with it or not;[34]
2. Although many people associate organisational politics with Machiavellian plotting for personal gain, it is also quite possible to use politics for an organisation's good.[35]

A useful model for thinking about organisational politics was developed by Simon Baddeley and Kim James.[36] It uses an animal analogy to illustrate the types of characters in an organisation. They posit two animals who don't think much about organisational politics: the ‘innocent’ lamb and the ‘stubborn’ donkey; and two animals who operate politically: the ‘wise’ owl and the ‘cunning’ fox.

The difference between the two types (lamb and owl, and donkey and fox) is that the former are primarily oriented towards what is good for the organisation. In contrast, the latter are primarily oriented towards self‐interest. The different types are summarised in [Illustration 10.4].

In an ideal world, you would hope there weren't too many foxes (or Machiavellian managers) in senior roles; however, you do find foxes in senior positions in most organisations. Based on my experience and work with clients, this can happen because many have learned to hide their self‐centred behaviour from others. As Machiavelli says: ‘Everyone sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are’. Indeed, some managers may hide their self‐serving behaviour from themselves, thinking they aren't Machiavellian, just ‘mature’, ‘flexible’, they ‘know how to play the game’ or they ‘naturally know the pragmatic thing to do’.

[Illustration 10.4] Political animals (after Kim James & Simon Baddeley)

On the receiving end of Machiavellian behaviour, managers report how some foxes won't reply to emails unless their boss is copied in or how they change their views depending on the way the wind is blowing in a meeting. They also cite examples of ‘silo behaviour’ and ‘empire building’ and good people ‘being thrown under the bus’ if things go wrong. As the saying goes: ‘Having a scapegoat in mind is almost as good a real solution to a problem’.[37]