Rescheduling: The Paradox of Politics

Organizational politics is what happens when we contend with each other for control or dominance, or when we work together to solve shared problems. Rescheduling collaborative work is one activity in which organizational politics plays two critical roles. The role that perhaps comes to mind first is cooperative political behavior. Cooperative political behavior is behavior in which we influence others — and allow others to influence us — to shift control of resources needed for producing the desired results.

A second role for political behavior related to rescheduling is perhaps less widely acknowledged. That role includes anti-cooperative political behavior. Anti-cooperative Although political behavior accounts for much of
our ability to reschedule when we need to, it
also accounts for much of the need to reschedulepolitical behavior is behavior in which we set our own parochial concerns ahead of others' concerns in order to achieve our own objectives. We do this even though — or sometimes because — we recognize that this choice can prevent others from achieving their objectives.

Anti-cooperative political behavior is relevant to rescheduling because it's often the source of the need to reschedule. Thus, although political behavior accounts for much of our ability to reschedule when we need to, it also accounts for much of the need to reschedule.

The paradox of the politics of scheduling

Politics thus has a paradoxical contribution to organizational scheduling. This paradox can seem at first to condemn organizations to an unending struggle to stamp out politics, but it actually provides a path to resolving itself.

Politics provides a resolution to this paradox as follows. If the people of an organization can acquire political mastery, they can guide their anti-cooperative behavior so as to reduce its harmful effects. And likewise, they can guide their cooperative behavior so as to enhance its beneficial effects.

Last words

To understand how to guide political behavior, we can examine that behavior at two scales. At the direct scale we make political choices that directly affect how one person (or one organizational unit) collaborates with one other person (or one other organizational unit). At the system scale, we make political choices that affect how systems of people or organizational units collaborate. Next time we'll survey those choices and the consequences of each, both at the direct scale and the system scale.   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:

Breaking the Rules

Many outstanding advances are due to those who broke rules to get things done. And some of those who break rules get fired or disciplined. When is rule breaking a useful tactic?

My Boss Gabs Too Much

Your boss has popped into your office for another morning gab session. Normally, it's irritating, but today you have a tight deadline, so you're royally ticked. What can you do?

Confronting the Workplace Bully: I

When a bully targets you, you have three options: accept the abuse; avoid the bully or escape; and confront or fight back. Confrontation is a better choice than many believe — if you know what you're doing.

When It's Just Not Your Job

Has your job become frustrating because the organization has lost its way? Is circumventing the craziness making you crazy too? How can you recover your perspective despite the situation?

Influence and Belief Perseverance

Belief perseverance is the pattern that causes us to cling more tightly to our beliefs when contradictory information arrives. Those who understand belief perseverance can use it to manipulate others.

See also Workplace Politics for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming September 3: Contributions in Team Meetings: Advocating

An agenda in the form of an ordered list of topics might not provide an appropriate framework for a given meeting. For example, if A depends on B, and B depends on A, we must find a way to discuss A and B together in some orderly fashion. Here are some alternatives to linear, ordered agendas. Available here and by RSS on September 3.

And on September 10: Contributions in Team Meetings: Scoping

Some meetings focus on solving specific problems. We call them "working sessions." More often, we delegate problem solving to task teams, while meetings wrestle with the difficult task of identifying or "scoping" problems rather than solving them. Scoping discussions can be perilous. Available here and by RSS on September 10.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.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