Practicing Organization Development, 5th Edition

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONEStrategies for OD to Win at Organizational Politics

William J. Rothwell

Politics is sometimes regarded as an onerous term (Schooley 2023). Many people identify it with efforts to prioritize selfish individual interests or tribal identification over common sense, competent management, and even commitment to moral, legal, and ethical standards. However, success in assisting change activities, a hallmark of Organization Development (OD), is (in part) dependent on the ability to navigate organizational politics. What 10 secrets can help OD practitioners deal with the realities of organizational politics and how they may affect change initiatives? This chapter focuses on answering that question.

SECRET #1: SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POWERFUL PEOPLE

According to French and Ravens’ well-known 1959 work on the sources of social power, there are five types of power: (1) reward power, (2) punishment power, (3) affiliation power, (4) knowledge power, and (5) charisma.

Few OD practitioners have the ability, on their own, to reward or punish others. If they set out to do that—that is, get people pay raises, promoted, laid off, or terminated—they can rarely do that by themselves alone. If they tried to get someone rewarded or punished, they would need to do it by working through others—and through powerful people.

Aligning yourself with powerful people is related with number three on French and Ravens’ list. OD practitioners should discover who is on the fast track to promotion ...