Chapter 4. Navigating the Organizational Landscape
The more we understand how things work at work, the more likely we will figure out the best way to get support for our ideas and make them a reality. We can’t change the culture and its associated politics and cultural norms. We can, however, learn the organizational environment well enough to navigate through it to increase our chances of success.
A common rebel mistake is getting so excited about an idea that we blurt it out to colleagues and maybe our bosses, and expect them to say, “Wow. Amazing. Let’s make it happen.” That rarely works, and sometimes backfires. In some organizational cultures, people who do this are labeled as “talking out of their ass” or “ass talkers.” Not pretty or helpful to a rebel’s credibility.
So before you share your ideas with others, spend as much time as you can learning the organizational landscape, as well as all the ways previous reform or innovation efforts failed.
In this chapter, we’ll share ideas for learning:
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How things really work
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Why people say no
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Which relationships are especially important
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Behaviors that can help you sail around political and bureaucratic traps
How Do Things Really Work?
To be effective, we need to become students of the way the organization actually works (as opposed to the way we wish it might work or think it should work). Especially important is knowing what the organization values (stated or unstated) and how decisions are made.
People in organizations ...
