We all know that companies have two faces, each with its own power structure. There’s the rational side, with a power structure visible in the organisational chart and there’s the irrational side, with a hidden power structure, following the unwritten rules of the game.
Not everyone plays the political game in the same way. And there is a difference if you are a hero or a tourist.
Here are the 5 stages of politics for a hero:
Stage 1. You don’t realize there are political forces. Or you don’t know them.
Stage 2. You find it unethical, but start getting involved anyway. It feels unnatural.
Stage 3. You realize that there are also good political powers at work and start to run into heroes on several occasions. You start to see the positive side of politics in your company.
Stage 4. You get frustrated as you find out that the group that uses politics for their own benefit – the strategy tourists – are much better organised than the heroes.
Stage 5. You get into the game at full force, join forces with the other heroes and start a crusade against the tourists or you quit the scene and start over in another job where you start again at stage 1.
At what stage are you today?
Copyright © 2012 Jeroen De Flander
