Innovators Fear Office Politics Most. What to Do?

The biggest fear of innovators, with fifty percent of the votes, is internal negative politics shows this LinkedIn poll. That's why I like to help you to change your perspective on office politics. Let office politics help you reach your innovation goals instead of killing them.

I understand the fear of office politics completely. Negative internal politics have frustrated me for years while I was trying to innovate a fast moving consumer goods company. As the results of the company were under pressure everybody tried to blame everybody of incompetence, intoxicating the internal culture. Leading to the resignation of a lot of people.... So I am not surprised, as you can see below, that fifty percent of all innovators fear internal negative politics most.

Why are internal politics around?

When you talk with innovators about office politics they use words as unethical, manipulative, evil and even dirty. Now why internal politics are around?

Organisations consist of people. And we human beings are social creatures. We like to make friends and use our relationships with others to benefit from, increasing our informal influence. And we use our informal influence to get things done the way we think is best for the organisation, and for ourselves to step up the corporate ladder.

Internal politics and power plays are just part of how we engage. They are everywhere around us, even in our families, clubs and not-for-profit organisations.

Avoiding Office Politics is no option

You cannot avoid office politics, they are always there. You can refuse to engage in office politics, and wear it even as a badge of honour. But you will be taken by full surprise when your innovation projects are suddenly killed, a colleague gets the promotion you hoped for or when you suddenly get laid off. Avoiding office politics sabotages your career, your reputation and your innovation projects. As they are inescapable, you cannot avoid being part of it.

So Change Perspectives

Like in everyday life making relationships and benefiting from them makes you thrive. So start doing it in the organisation you work for too. Change perspective and start seeing that office politics can save innovation project from getting killed, or can make you get the right persons you need to join your innovation department or project team.

So become politically intelligent. It's all about influence and being close with the right people at the right time. Managing office politics is a lot of work though. You have to learn the unwritten rules of your organisation and then start practising them too getting great relationships with your stakeholders and building coalitions of support for your ideas.

To put it simply:

1. Change your perspective
2. Make friends
3. Use your influence

Wishing you lots of positive internal politics for your innovation journeys,

Gijs

Join our next free webinar on March 15. In 45 minutes, you learn how to get buy-in for your innovation initiative. To register click here: https://lnkd.in/eTzy6ihQ