Confronting Company Politics

Citation

Travers, C.J. (1999), "Confronting Company Politics", Women in Management Review, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 105-107. https://doi.org/10.1108/wimr.1999.14.3.105.1

The hardest battle is to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you everybody else (e.e. cummings).

This is a very interesting and challenging book, challenging in that it makes the reader question so many things about the way he/she approaches work and life in general. Despite its specific focus on confronting company politics, many of the concepts and skills outlined can be applied to so many different areas. I left the book feeling mentally exhausted but inspired.

The book has nothing good to say about politics nor does it attempt to teach the reader how to “play the game”. Advocating being true to oneself, the book defines politics as “all the game playing, snide, ‘them and us’, aggressive, sabotaging, negative, blaming, ‘win‐lose’, with‐holding, non co‐operative behaviour that goes on in hundreds of interactions everyday in your organisation” (p. 1).

Though aimed generally at individuals, the book also has benefits for organisations and makes some very useful observations on why the successful implementation and management of change is so difficult to achieve. The book suggests that culture change in organisations cannot take place unless the individuals within them confront company politics and the saboteurs of change by allowing real personal change. Without this, change does not really happen. Instead, politics take over once again and the culture that results is one where there is low morale, internal competition, mistrust, lack of communication, top management non‐co‐operation, interdepartmental conflict, inaccessibility of the MD, lack of strong committed leadership and feelings of powerlessness. In short, company politics are barriers to productivity, effectiveness and profitability. The impact on individuals is that they become unfocused, demoralised, revengeful or withdrawn.

Most organisational initiatives attempt to develop non‐blame cultures where individuals are encouraged to stop playing politics and take responsibility for their own behaviour. However, Stone says that this fails because responsibility is seen as a “detachable burden” rather than the existential responsibility to “be oneself” (pp. 18‐19).

She questions how such change initiatives as empowerment, for example, which rely on cultures of high trust, supportive communication and co‐operation, can hope to work in these hostile environments. She explains that conventional culture change programs have been ineffective because they have failed to “mobilise passion and action on a personal level” and only serve to pay lip service to culture change by dealing with superficial behaviours. The book places the onus firmly on individuals to take an existential approach and take “personal responsibility for consistently confronting company politics in a hostile environment” (p. 2).

Stone suggests that there are three types of individual in most organisations: those who have the desired values, attitudes and behaviour to meet the culture change; those who are willing and able to change to fit; and those who do not fit and will never change.

Unfortunately, she suggests that these proportions stay the same even after a change initiative; the aggressive and negative behaviour of saboteurs affects the motivated whose resolve is weakened so much that they give up on their positive values and attitudes. She says that “the central issue is not how to change a lifetime’s values and attitudes but how to encourage individuals who have the desired values to live by them” (p. 9).

There is a great deal to absorb from the 15 chapters in this book. Chapters 1‐6 set the scene and cover such topics as “is company politics strangling your business and you with it?”; “can personal responsibility be a detachable burden?”; “why play politics and why acquiesce?”; “taking a decision in a hostile environment”; “am I an existentialist?”, and “is freedom of choice only an illusion ‐ why encourage autonomy?”

Chapters 7‐14 comprise the “how to” section of the book and provide the skills which Stone believes are essential. These chapters include “confronting the cycle of group dynamics and company politics”; “how does the company politics start?”; “the phenomenological approach and action”; “we hypnotise ourselves with our language”; “confronting politics ‐ the stress of inaction ‐ the anxiety of action”; “the difference between self‐actualising and self‐image actualising”; “the conflict is within not without”; “so your indecision is final”; and “how do I do it?”

The book attempts to shed light on the complex reasons why people choose to play politics, acquiesce to them, or indeed to confront them. The book’s aim is twofold: to propose a methodology to enable real personal change so that subsequent long‐term organisational change can be implemented successfully, and to provide individuals with the skills to confront company politics. At the heart of the book is an emphasis on individuals being true to themselves and living an existential life. Stone does caution, however, that living an existential life is not without risks. Nonetheless, she suggests that “existential anxiety” ‐ defined as the fear of doing something with unknown outcomes ‐ is far easier to deal with than “existential guilt”, that is, the realisation that by not acting we are giving up our birthright and are failing to use our potential (p. 58). Anxiety caused by action, though potentially unpleasant, is dealt with by staying in the “here and now” rather than rehearsing for tomorrow and reliving the past. In this way, Stone advocates focusing on internal and external reality rather than fantasy (p. 124).

Many of these issues in the book are really about helping the individual gain control over their reactions and hence the environment in which they exist. The chapter on the use of language and the link with locus of control is very interesting as she clearly distinguishes between the non‐existential “I can’t” and the more enabling “I won’t” as excuses for not acting. As Stone says: “The way to unstuck a company culture is to get everyone more and more aware of their freedom to choose how they act” (p. 115). So, from the existentialist viewpoint, a first step to “taking responsibility for our own behaviour” is to accept that behaviour is caused by things that go on inside our heads rather than outside it! (p. 120).

Instead of often choosing not to act, Stone suggests that we need to act now. If we had only six months left to live, we would all be clearer about what we wanted and more able to decide on courses of action. So, the “nothing left to lose” helps us choose. As Stone says: “What do individuals think they have to lose if they choose to do what’s in their hearts now?” (p. 145).

One of the book’s most thought‐provoking passages was the focus on crossing “rubicons”, that is, confronting the fear of ambiguity, the unknown and uncertainty to get away from the disabling effect of a “catastrophic fantasy” (p. 53) and do rather than just think and plan. Stone says that to cross rubicons you may experience existential anxiety, which is stressful, but you will fulfil your life potential. To stand still and do nothing will lead to existential guilt (still stressful) and you will be guilty of “wasting … life by playing it safe” (p. 55). Although her message is a powerful one, I believe we must be careful not to try to rush into doing without clear thought. Not everyone has the power or skills to carry it off.

The reality is that some individuals find it easier than others to be true to themselves and stand up for what they believe. Linking to the “locus of control” viewpoint, Stone asserts that people choose to be passive in this world as well as choose to be proactive and that the outcomes of acting are not always as bad as “catastrophic fantasising” would suggest. I do think that this is a little optimistic. However, what I would not deny is that people often feel much better when they confront politics, even if the resulting circumstances are not wholly positive. The book is ideal for those who have the right values and attitudes and who are prepared to demonstrate their actions in spite of saboteurs.

In terms of the book’s style, I very much enjoyed the juxtaposition of business and philosophy. The intermittent quotes used to illustrate points were excellent, as were the cases and scenarios. This text would be useful for teachers and trainers as well as individuals looking for learning and self‐development. Stone takes the reader through a journey, though I did feel that with the emphasis on skills, more links and signposting could have been used to maintain the focus on the politics angle.

Stone spells out that confronting politics is the responsibility of individuals and organisations, but it is especially the responsibility of leaders. With single‐minded, strong leaders who are prepared to stamp down on transgressions as they occur, people will be less likely to be left “floundering among the everyday battles”; zero tolerance is what is required. However, she cautions that organisations need to confront politics first before trying to change.

The book does end on a rather pessimistic note as Stone says people are not always prepared to work as hard as is necessary to achieve change. She likens this situation to bungy jumping: however much you are taught to do it, you and you alone must jump (p. 170). She summarises by saying that we need to confront our own anxieties and fears to bring about long‐term culture change. For those who feel their life is somehow unfair, unjust or messed up by others, her message is to remember that “Life is not about getting what you want, it’s about meeting the challenges on the way” (p. 171).