
Platform supply vessels battle the fire that was consuming remnants of the Deepwater Horizon oilrig in April 2010. This photo was taken by a U.S. Coast Guard MH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter, which documented the fire while searching for survivors. After years of investigations, it is becoming clear that prominent among causes of the disaster was the influence of organizational politics on the risk management processes at Transocean Ltd. (owner of the rig) and at BP. In an interview of Najmedin Meshkati, professor of civil, environmental and systems engineering at USC, reported by Neela Banerjee, and published in the Los Angeles Times on July 25, 2012, Meshkati says, "I heard from a reliable source that in the pursuit of profits, BP's longtime CEO, Lord John Browne, unofficially adopted Oscar Wilde's quote, 'consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative,' as the company motto. And we all know well what inconsistency can do to system safety." Policies and procedures enforce consistency. Policies and procedures are the most effective means of controlling the influence of organizational politics on risk management. Photo courtesy United States Coast Guard. Read the final report on the incident, issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, "REPORT REGARDING THE CAUSES OF THE APRIL 20, 2010 MACONDO WELL BLOWOUT".
When we manage risk, we usually focus on those risks most closely associated with the tasks at hand — content risks. But there are other risks, to which we pay less attention. Many of these are outside our awareness. Here's Part II of an exploration of these non-content risks, emphasizing those that relate to organizational politics.
In Part I of this exploration of risks not directly related to task content, we focused on those risks that are associated with perceptions. Here are three additional risk classes that relate more closely to organizational politics.
- Errors internal, organizational, and contextual
- Internal errors are those that happen within the task, including, for example, premature disclosure of information, misstatements, and faulty estimates. External errors are those that happen within the hosting organization, such as server crashes, or terminations of key personnel. Contextual errors involve elements outside the hosting organization, such as vehicle collisions, fires, floods, or war.
- Relying on organizational processes for protection from all errors is risky. Understand the limits of the protections the organization provides. To the extent possible, provide your own coverage for remaining gaps.
- Resource protection
- Although we usually associate securing resources with task initiation, maintaining access to resources is always important. And we're often surprised when we lose access to resources, even though most tasks experience resource interruptions at some point in their lives.
- Diligence and a strong personal network are vital in maintaining situational awareness with respect to resource predation. Create plans not only for adapting when resources are withdrawn, but also for defending the resources and commitments you already have.
- Bureaucratic inertia
- Organizations tend to continue doing whatever they've been doing, which in many cases, isn't much. One-of-a-kind or first-of-a-kind tasks are therefore likely to encounter difficulties, because of the inherent contrast between them and other work.
- These difficulties are more Diligence and a strong personal
network are vital in maintaining
situational awareness with respect
to resource predationpronounced when the initiative originates somewhere other than the top of the organization. Advocates of such efforts can be effective when they have warm personal relationships with those who serve in gating functions that can impede progress. - Political sabotage
- Political sabotage includes any effort to disrupt, delay, or terminate the task in order to free its resources for other efforts, or to besmirch the careers of the task's advocates. Tactics of political saboteurs can include spreading disinformation, reassigning key personnel, and manipulating resource streams.
- When political sabotage occurs, it's rarely a surprise. Plan for it. Include in statements of the task vision refutations of arguments saboteurs are likely to make someday. These arguments are far more effective when offered in advance of the sabotage attempts than they are when offered as defense after the fact.
Most important, recognize that the political efforts required to maintain the health and vitality of tasks or projects do take time and resources. Include in budgets and schedules enough time and coverage for those who must execute the political maneuvers that keep the task on track. Political success isn't free. First in this series Top
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Related articles
More articles on Project Management:
Bois Sec!
- When your current approach isn't working, you can scrap whatever you're doing and start again —
if you have enough time and money. There's a less radical solution, and if it works, it's usually both
cheaper and faster.
Project Improvisation Fundamentals
- Project plans are useful — to a point. Every plan I've ever seen eventually has problems when
it contacts reality. At that point, we replan or improvise. But improvisation is an art form. Here's
Part I of a set of tips for mastering project improvisation.
Nonlinear Work: When Superposition Fails
- Much of the work we do is confounding, because we consistently underestimate the effort involved, the
resources required, and the time required to get it done. The failure of superposition can be one reason
why we get it wrong.
Missing the Obvious: II
- With hindsight, we sometimes recognize that we could have predicted the very thing that just now surprised
us. Somehow, we missed the obvious. Why does this happen?
Anticipating Absence: How
- Knowledge workers are professionals who "think for a living." When they suddenly become unavailable
because of the pandemic, we consider substituting someone else. But substitutes need much more than
skills and experience to succeed.
See also Project Management and Workplace Politics for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming June 7: Toxic Disrupters: Tactics
- Some people tend to disrupt meetings. Their motives vary, but they use techniques drawn from a limited collection. Examples: they violate norms, demand attention, mess with the agenda, and sow distrust. Response begins with recognizing their tactics. Available here and by RSS on June 7.
And on June 14: Pseudo-Collaborations
- Most workplace collaborations produce results of value. But some collaborations — pseudo-collaborations — are inherently incapable of producing value, due to performance management systems, or lack of authority, or lack of access to information. Available here and by RSS on June 14.
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