Workplace politics

Individual views about politics vary relative to one’s situation. Some people would say ‘politics is a dirty game’. Politics is everywhere and it is everything. Does that make politics normal? One of the greatest philosophers, Aristotle defined politics as ‘affairs of the cities.’ This broad definition can be extended to apply to affairs of a family, community, nation, organization, and the world. Wherever there are people there is politics. Therefore politics is unavoidable and ignore it at your own peril. Plato another great philosopher pointed that ‘one of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors’. Power, influence, and decision making characterize politics. Who decides on what, why, where, when, and how? What is the response or reaction to a decision? In politics, non-response qualifies as a response. It could be viewed as defiance.  

Reality is that there is good and bad politics or put differently positive and negative politics. Politics denotes human interactions, power, and authority. Organizational politics is also known as workplace politics or office politics. Good politics takes a win-win approach whereby the individual playing politics benefits as well as the organization. Examples of good politics include recognition, professional demeanor, respect for one another, career progression, networking, teamwork, access to resources, people, assets, loans, tools of trade, and nice offices. Bad politics is self-serving where one pushes personal interests without regard to their effect on the organization and other people. Winner takes all mentality triumphs. Examples of bad politics are rumors, mistrust, backstabbing, isolation, withholding information, lack of cooperation, character assassination, toxic atmosphere, favoritism, and conflicts.

Politics can be played by anyone, senior and junior people. Senior people may choose not to confront one another but play politics against each other using junior people as proxies. Remember the saying ‘when elephants fight the grass suffers.’ Sometimes the juniors bear the burden of the political games of the seniors. Junior people may also play politics against each other especially when there is stiff competition for promotion and recognition. They can also play politics against their managers by undermining their authority, and performing poorly so that the manager is perceived as a poor performer.

Bad politics is dysfunctional and can sink an organization. It is this kind of politics that makes people conclude that politics is a dirty game. Good politics helps organization to meet its goals and live up to its values. Leadership plays a significant role in shaping good and bad politics in an organization. Michael Jarrett summarizes the terrain of organizational politics using four metaphoric domains:-

1.     The Weeds. Personal influence and informal networks rule. Weeding helps with maintenance of balanced politics. However, if the weeds are left unchecked they can choke the system. Politics becomes counterproductive and destroys growth. To deal with the weeds, get involved enough to understand the informal networks at play. Identify the key brokers, as well as the gaps. Fill the gaps or ally with the brokers so that you can increase your own influence. Conversely, if the brokers are doing more harm than good, you can try to isolate them by developing a counter-narrative and strengthening connections with other networks.

2.     The Rocks. Power rests on individual interactions and formal sources of authority such as title, role, expertise, or access to resources as well as membership of or strong ties to a high status group. Be careful of the sharp edges of rocks which can wreak havoc.  We are familiar with leaders who constantly question decisions agreed with the management team, change his/her mind from one meeting to the next, stop agreed allocation of resources, and take people off projects sometimes without notification. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Dealing with a leader who is dysfunctional and behaving like a bull in a China shop, one has to take calculated risks by appealing to the leader’s interests whilst at the same time applying reason and facts.

3.     The High Ground. Use of formal authority with organizational systems, rules, structures, policy guidelines, and procedures that shape political dynamics. There is use of both incentives, and sanctions that keep the organization and people in compliance. However, bureaucracy kicks in and abuse of power becomes the norm. To bring about change, some organizations hire change management consultants to assist them or recruit a change agent from outside the organization.

4.     The Woods. Organizations are like forests. They can provide cover and safety for people or they can be confusing places where good ideas and necessary changes get lost. Hence the phrase can’t see the wood for the trees. It becomes important to understand the woods from the trees and not focus on symptoms but deal with barriers to strategy execution.

John Eldred’s view is spot on, ‘When we win on an issue, we call it leadership. When we lose, we call it politics.’ How do people and organizations cope with organizational politics? Some choose to ignore and avoid politics at all costs. A key survival technique is to realize that politics is unavoidable and selectively participate in it. Knowing when and how to engage in politics create options to:-

1.     Seek goal alignment. Define how winning is in terms of your goal. If the politics does not impact, affect, and support your goal, you are better off not engaging in the politics. Always ask yourself, ‘what’s in it for me?’ Is it worth it? Be mindful of getting distracted by other people’s politics that does not concern you. Choose which battles to pick and which ones to ignore.

2.     Be selective and tactful in picking battles. Antagonists will always be there. Don’t fight everyone for you need alliances. Sir Winston Churchill said it well, ‘You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.’

3.     Understand power dynamics. Power can either be soft or hard. Soft power makes use of influence, relationships, and values whilst hard power relies on role authority, expertise, directives, reward, and control mechanisms.

4.     Choose appropriate strategy to apply at the right time and place. Strategies change as situations change. There is no one size fits all.

4.1 Domination. Survival of the fittest. The powerful person usually gets what he / she wants. There is little or no concern on whether the organization or other people gain or not. Winner takes all mentality.

4.2 Influence. Appeal to others to go along with you. Share ideas and get buy-in.

4.3 Negotiation. Recognize the importance of the other parties. Be willing to compromise.

4.4 Cooperation. Build coalitions. Seek support from others and give support to others. You need others as they need you.

Politics is science and art. Learn the skills and apply them skillfully. If not managed properly organizational politics may torpedo your career.