Power_ Why Some People Have Itand Others Don't - Jeffrey Pfeffer [98]
Maybe, as Churchill’s quote suggests, democracy is good not only as a form of government for public entities but also as a way of making better decisions in companies and nonprofits. This was the point made by James Surowiecki’s book The Wisdom of Crowds. Surowiecki reviewed evidence that not only were collections of individuals better at making estimates and predictions than were experts, often aggregating their judgments through simple voting mechanisms; they can also be more effective in figuring out which product ideas to support and what strategies to pursue.20
In many instances, people inside organizations have different goals, and even if they share the same objective, they may have different views of how to accomplish that objective. Inside the UCSF Mt. Zion Medical Center, not everyone thought patient care was the highest priority—as an academic medical center, there was great emphasis on cutting-edge research. Some administrators were worried about meeting budgets and the hospital’s credit rating. So, even though many could, in principle, agree with Laura Esserman’s more patient-centered approach to delivering treatment for breast cancer, there was great disagreement about priorities and issues of implementation. Inside companies there are vigorous disagreements about whether to cut costs or increase the value of the product offering to consumers, move into new markets or retrench to where the company seems to have some advantage.
There are only two ways to resolve the inevitable disagreements about what to do and how to do it—through the imposition of hierarchical authority in which the boss gets to make the decision, or through a more political system in which various interests vie for power, with those with the most power most affecting the final choices. Neither system is perfect, but before we eschew the operation of markets, including markets for power and influence, inside organizations of all types, remember the research summarized by James Surowiecki and the wisdom of Winston Churchill.
In this chapter, we have seen that there are a variety of answers to the question, “Are organizational politics good for you and good for the organization?” One answer is that you need to take care of yourself if you are going to survive and succeed in places where, if you don’t look out for yourself, no one else is going to. A second answer is that the question itself is off the mark: the evidence shows that hierarchy is ubiquitous and sought by people and, as a consequence, there are inevitable contests for obtaining the scarce higher-level positions in status hierarchies. In addition, power and influence skills are essential for getting things done in complex, interdependent systems and may be an effective way to make decisions, particularly compared to the more typical hierarchical arrangements. The message is that you need to master the knowledge and skills necessary to wield power effectively. In some circumstances, this may be good for the organization, but in virtually all circumstances, it is going to be good for you.
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It’s Easier Than You Think
IT’S NOT difficult to use the ideas in this book to increase your power and your chances of being successful inside organizations. How do I know? Lots of people have told me how helpful these concepts can be. One wrote:
I just wanted to drop you a line and say hello…. I use the material from the Paths to Power course all the time! What I learned made me much more strategic and thoughtful about visibility and positioning myself, especially given that I’m working for a large and somewhat bureaucratic corporation. Here’s a nice example. I’ve got a newly absentee boss—my manager recently switched roles, leaving a management vacuum above me. So I just sort of took over. And I used that as a basis to request frequent