The Essential Art Of Smart Politics

RITA MCGRATH

THE ESSENTIAL ART OF SMART POLITICS

WHAT WE'LL DISCUSS

When I say “politics,” what’s your reaction?

If you’re like most participants I have in my Executive Education course “Leading Strategic Growth and Change” the very idea elicits a groan.

People think of politics as invariably negative, involving hidden agendas, self-dealing, backstabbing and worse! And sure, it can take on those features, no question.

If you want to have an impact on an organization, however, I’m going to encourage you to consider an alternative perspective on politics.

ORGANIZATION POLITICS WHAT IS IT?

“In an organization, politics represents the action you take to get people to take action that they would not have taken absent your intervention. It’s essential to effective change and transformation.”

A Systematic Approach

1.

2.

3.

4.

Identify your goals

Identify as many key

Political mapping –

Strategize with

from the political

stakeholders –

how active is each

respect to each

situation in specific

individuals and

stakeholder with

category of

terms.

groups – as you can.

respect to the

stakeholder.

A stakeholder is

situation and how

someone who will

much they stand to

be affected by the

gain or lose from it.

decisions made.

IDENTIFYING YOUR GOALS It can help to take a page from the negotiation handbook to flesh out your own thinking. Try to be really clear about what success needs to be for this political situation. I suggest writing it down. “This situation will have been resolved to my satisfaction if A happens by B time while not costing more than C in money or D in social capital.”

Taking the time to map out stakeholders in your particular situation is always valuable, more so if the stakes are high.

I’m always surprised then when I ask people who their key stakeholders are and I get a blank look. A stakeholder is anyone – person or group – that has a vested interest in the political outcome of your issue.

IDENTIFYING YOUR STAKEHOLDERS

POLITICAL MAPPING

The first dimension to consider is whether your particular stakeholder is likely to embrace your idea because they will benefit from it or resist it because they either will actually suffer or perceive that they will. And don’t assume that people are logical about this. People don’t live in your reality. They live in their perception of reality. This is a basic idea that a surprising number of people don’t understand.

DEVELOPING YOUR STRATEGIES

Heroes are people who support you. They think what you are doing is great, and you can count on them for backing. So where do we go wrong with heroes? We don’t nurture them, encourage them, give them the tools and resources to carry the message and make them look, well, like heroes! So don’t forget about people just because you think you can safely count on them for support. Check in, offer help, make sure they aren’t falling afoul of a political issue.

Power matters in political situations. That seems pretty obvious. Power differentials are why so often, people with incredibly valuable information are ignored; why good ideas are overlooked and even why a solid mix of voices aren’t even part of the conversation. But what do we mean when we say someone has power?

A NOTE ON POWER

A HISTORICAL STORY

The story of how Lyndon Baines Johnson got voting rights passed in the American Congress is illustrative. As told by his biographer, Robert Caro, Johnson was a genius at finding common ground between warring factions to drive the outcomes he wanted. Desperate to pass civil rights legislation once he had accumulated power (and after 20 years of refusing to support it in order to gain that power), Johnson had to figure out how to get enough votes in the Senate to get it through. Because of the Senate’s filibuster rules, his opponents needed only 33 votes to kill it (sound familiar?).

Southern states have 22 senators and if you add in the senators from the Midwest and conservative Republicans, you don’t have to try hard to get to that number...*

Story continues on Thought Sparks*

https://thoughtsparks.substack.com/