The Attributes of Political Opportunity: The Basics

As you navigate the politics of your organization, opportunities occasionally come your way. Evaluating them can be challenging. What criteria do you apply when you decide whether or not or how to pursue an opportunity? Here's Part I — the basics — of a set of attributes that make some political opportunities more attractive than others.

You consider it ethical

If pursuing the opportunity is consistent with your sense of ethics, you'll feel better about it however it turns out. If pursuing the opportunity violates your sense of ethics, your pursuit might extract an emotional price. Over time, as you accumulate a collection of transgressions of your own ethical code, the burden can become difficult to bear. Staying within your own ethical boundaries can be the most comfortable path.

You actually want it

Every opportunity requires something from you. It will be work, after all. If you strongly dislike what you would have to do once you secure the opportunity, or if you're strongly averse to it for some reason, the chances that you'll be glad about getting the opportunity are slim. Performing well will be difficult unless you actually want the opportunity.

Your organization cares about it

Some efforts aren't truly central to the overall goal of the organization. They get funded anyway, for a variety of reasons. Perhaps someone with clout wanted it done. Or perhaps an external agent (a customer, a government or a partner organization) exerted undue influence to make it happen. Such opportunities aren't as helpful to you as opportunities that the organization really cares about. The truly valuable opportunities are aligned with organizational goals.

You have a significant edge

Maybe nobody else has yet spotted this opportunity. Maybe you are the best positioned to pursue it. Maybe it requires a skill set that's uniquely yours. Or maybe the people who are aware of the opportunity lack the network connections that you have. Whatever your advantage is, it gives you a significant edge.

Support from above is low risk

If you require assistance from above, the opportunity is more valuable if the people who help you aren't at risk, even if an unfavorable outcome materializes. They usually have a lot to lose, and if an unfavorable and threatening outcome looks likely enough, these allies or mentors might have to abandon you. Devise a strategy that protects these assets.

If you require assistance
from above, the opportunity is
more valuable if the people
who help you aren't at risk

It increases your range of options

You'll be happy if you pursue the opportunity and you secure it. But what if you don't secure it? If the result is a political configuration that leaves you with more options and more desirable options than you had before, you've made progress.

We'll turn our attention next time to the finer points: evaluating information sources, political considerations, favorable failures, and more.   Next issue in this series   Top    Next Issue

Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics, filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Workplace Politics:

When You're the Least of the Best: I

The path to the pinnacle of many professions leads through an initiate or intern stage in which the new professional plays a role designed to facilitate learning, especially from those more experienced. For some, this role is frustrating and difficult. Comfort in the role makes learning its lessons easier.

Is It Arrogance or Confidence?

Confusing arrogance and confidence can cause real trouble — or lost opportunities. What exactly is the difference between them?

Workplace Politics and Social Exclusion: I

In the workplace, social exclusion is the practice of systematically excluding someone from activities in which they would otherwise be invited to participate. When used in workplace politics, it's ruinous for the person excluded, and expensive to the organization.

Projection Deception

Practitioners of the dark side of workplace politics are skilled in the art of deception. One technique involves exploiting psychological projection on the part of the person deceived.

Some Consequences of Blaming

Both blame-oriented cultures and accountability-oriented cultures can learn from their mistakes. Accountability-oriented cultures learn how to avoid repeating their mistakes. Blame-oriented cultures learn how to repeat their mistakes.

See also Workplace Politics and Workplace Politics for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming December 11: White Water Rafting as a Metaphor for Group Development

Tuckman's model of small group development, best known as "Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing," applies better to development of some groups than to others. We can use a metaphor to explore how the model applies to Storming in task-oriented work groups. Available here and by RSS on December 11.

And on December 18: Subgrouping and Conway's Law

When task-oriented work groups address complex tasks, they might form subgroups to address subtasks. The structure of the subgroups and the order in which they form depend on the structure of the group's task and the sequencing of the subtasks. Available here and by RSS on December 18.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenyrWpTxHuyCrjZbUpner@ChacnoFNuSyWlVzCaGfooCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info