ating with Omega (and dealing within his own side), he must
obviously understand how authority functions in these organi-
zations. Will Omega’s CEO call all the shots, or is he more of a
consensus builder?
Paul also should try to get insight into existing alliances, recog-
nizing that there are different types and that this has important
consequences for how he should proceed. Shared-interest alliances
are (often) long-standing relationships between parties that have
similar interests. These coalitions are inherently stable and dif-
ficult to break. Strange-bedfellow alliances tend to be shorter-term
and more opportunistic; they are based on mutually beneficial
trades of the “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” variety.
They often are confined to ...