Personal Best Issue 47

Personal Best #47
From e-Advisor Issue #76
by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin
CBP Editor-in-Chief

"Lions and Tigers and Bears: Loose in the Projects!"

It's a jungle out there where the consultants prowl.

I was reminded of this a few weeks ago in Anaheim (across the street from Disneyland, appropriately enough), where I checked out a presentation by one of my favorite project management people, Randy Englund. I figured he'd have something fresh and different to say, unlike 80% of the project-management-presenting herd.

Talk about an understatement.

I had my first (well, only) belly-laugh of the conference when he opened his presentation on "Leading with Power," with the deadpan explanation that the word "politics" comes to us from the Latin, "Poly, meaning many; plus -tics, meaning, bloodsucking parasites."

When he later invited us to identify the political animals in our workplace according to whether they were Lions, Tigers, or Bears, I was surprised when the audience didn't chorus Oh My! Maybe that was because there were so many attendees from outside the U.S. who didn't grow up with Dorothy and Toto on TV. Or maybe project managers are too inhibited for call-and-response comedy. But I bet I wasn't the only one who wondered when the flying monkeys were going to come on the scene.

Seriously, though, the metaphor of the political jungle can be a useful one for the person entering that jungle--er, organization. Which of the political animals are friendly? Tameable? Shy and in need of coaxing? Liable to eat you alive?

Those C-level tigers--the top cats whose territory spans the organization--have a weakness: because they are so solitary, they are isolated. It's a struggle to remain at the top of the heap: the tiger inspires envy from the other tigers who would rule his territory, and fear from everyone else. Isolation and fear mean they often don't get full or clear information. They operate--as tigers do--"in the dark." Maybe that's why their actions often seem so predatory and antithetical to the idea of organizational community.

Lions, on the other hand like to bask in the sun with their large pride of admirers and hangers-on. You can hear them roaring a mile away. They defend their turf and serve a valuable function, keeping the herds on their toes and thinned out. Sound like any functional managers you know--especially, perhaps, those in marketing, sales, or human resources?

Meanwhile, the solitary bears go about their business quietly. Don't bother them and they won't bother you. They dislike people and avoid them whenever possible. They have an air of preoccupied introspection. But watch out if they think you are likely to cause harm to one of their "babies." Technical people--and writers!--can identify with the image of the bear. Don't let that slow, ambling pace fool you: the "bear's" sharp intelligence is very busy and quick. And those claws can be sharp when need be.

Why do we feel vaguely guilty when we start having fun in a work-related setting? Must be our Calvinist forebears. (No pun intended.) I noticed that the complement of attendees of Indian extraction had no trouble entering into the metaphor and playing along.

Play and metaphor aren't a distraction from thinking about organizational life, but a refreshing and productive new angle. In the past few years, there have been quite a few books and papers written about the uses of metaphor, storytelling, and fun in building positive organizational culture and helping people deal with the stressors of organizational change. (See the end of this article for a selection of links on this topic.) Randy wasn't just fooling around when he included this segment in his paper: he was providing an object lesson in how we can begin to regard organizational politics in a positive light. Instead of politics being the realm of win/lose, covert and manipulative action, he suggested we confront the reality of "the jungle" and engage with it, striving to create a political playing ground of win/win, openness, and desirable outcomes.

Hmmm. Sounds like that wouldn't be a bad idea in national politics, as well as in the organizational variety.

But--I'm still stuck on those missing flying monkeys. Who are they? Well, they're the screamers; the shock troops; the attack machine. They display mindless, groupthink obedience to evil authority. They swoop in and carry their prey away. When you figure out where they fit in the organizational chart, let me know.

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin writes for the business press on behalf of the Center for Business Practices, the publishing and research division of PM Solutions, Inc., a project management consulting and training firm. She is the former acting editor-in-chief of PM Network magazine, the flagship publication of the Project Management Institute. Send comments on this column to jcabanis-brewin@pmsolutions.com. Interested in writing for Personal Best? E-mail cbp@pmsolutions.com for author guidelines.