Politics In Organisations

This is an extract from an e-mail that I sent to someone on the subject of politics in organisations, its a few observations and quotes on that particular subject, which impacts us all from time to time.

On the first management course I attended back in 1987, we had an organisational behaviour module, taught by a professor called John W. Hunt who wrote a book called managing people at work.

Here are three things that he said during the lectures which I’ve often thought about in the years that followed.

1. There are three sides to every argument the person you are having it with (their version), your own version and the truth.

2. Its very difficult to effect change without a crisis (you can see that now in the political arena ‘cuts’ have to be made to balance the country’s books. Some politicians don’t want to do it, but they have to because of the crisis).

3. Whenever you get more than two people in an organisation there are politics!

Another thing to consider is developing a greater empathy for other people, thinking about their point of view. It’s a key skill to master; you can apply that to anything from sales to leadership or simply getting on with people.

Finally, if you have ever read ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie, he teaches you how to avoid arguments because ‘even if you win an argument, people will resent you for it.’

If you have any thoughts on this one let me know.

Regards

Mark

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