Managing with Power

"Innovations almost invariably threatens the status quo, and consequently, innovation is an inherently political activity."

"Managers and employees who were stymied by the struggles over power and influence that emerge from interdependence and differences in points of view have moved to a world of smaller, simpler organizations."

"The second lesson we learn in school, which may be even more difficult to unlearn, is that there are right and wrong answers."

"Rather than spending inordinate amounts of time and effort in the decision-making process, it would seem at least as useful to spend time implementing decisions and dealing with their ramifications."

"From the perspective of power and influence, the process of implementation involves a set of steps, which are outlined below."

"It is especially important to develop power and influence when the people with whom you are interdependent have a different point of view than you, and thus cannot be relied upon to do what you want."

"The greater the task specialization in the organization, the more likely there will be disagreements."

"Those who have power typically conserve it for important issues."

"There are three tasks required to assess power distribution in an organization."

"To assess the relative standing of the power of various departments within a firm, one might consider the following indicators."

"In order to diagnose interdependence, it is necessary to ask a series of fairly straightforward questions."

"Power comes from being in the right place. But what is the right place?"

"Resources can be almost anything that is perceived as valuable, from building contracts to press exposure to control over systems and analysis."

"Because it is so important to control, and not merely to possess, resources in order to obtain power, there is often a great deal of hue and cry in organizations about the right to exercise discretion over resources."

"It is quite possible to control, or substantially affect, the operations of a much larger entity, as long as one possesses discretionary control over a source of incremental resources."

"One of the ways in which we can build alliances and coalitions is by helping people with whom we have ties to obtain positions of powers."

"The measurement of a person's position in the communication structure is of both practical and theoretical concern."

"Social networks are structures that can be built deliberately, and our place in the network of communication is something that is under our own control."

"Strategic behavior consciously intended to demonstrate performance and build reputation is helpful in the effort to develop sources of power."

"One way to evaluate characteristics as sources of power involves assessing the extent to which they solve the two critical problems that confront individuals seeking to become powerful in organizations."

"Establishing the framework within which issues will be viewed and decided is often tantamount to determining the result."

"As with many other influence techniques, relying on the judgments of others to help us form our own opinions economizes on our cognitive work."

"Not everyone will have an equal ability to influence others by using emotions tactically [but] this skill can, in part, be learned or acquired."

"The consensus of others is normally taken as a reasonable guide to understanding the situation and hence determining our own behavior."

"Being first often provides the advantage of surprise, and the possibility of finding your opponent unprepared."

"Employ an outside expert, such as a consulting firm, to produce the numbers or answers you need."

"Organizations are notorious for avoiding evaluation and avoiding looking backward."

"In developing and exercising power it is important to use structural mechanisms that institutionalize your power and diffuse responsibility for decisions and actions."

"The influence of appropriately chosen language, well-conducted ceremonies, and carefully designed settings can escape our conscious attention."

"Shifts in power are virtually guaranteed, and the likelihood is great that after acquiring power we will eventually lose it."

"Distributing organizational resources more equally can be an effective way to reduce influence activities and the time and effort consumed by them."

"Managing with Power means recognizing that in almost every organization, there are varying interests."