New rules for power games

A “game” is a sport or activity that involves competition under rules.

Behind every action and reaction in the Universe, there is always a set of rules that influence and determine the outcome. Rules often operate subtly in the background. For example, the laws of physics govern outcomes in our physical world. We don’t have to be aware of them for them to affect and influence the outcome.

Similarly, there are rules or principles that govern Power Games. Because many of the players are unaware of the rules, the consequences are often chaotic. Power games, the constant exchange of power between the entities of our businesses and organizations, absorb incredible amounts of time and energy.

You may be puzzled as to why your boss chooses to humiliate you in front of others. Every Leadership model identifies that behavior as bad business. Why is no one holding him accountable?

Or maybe you’ve experienced the situation where, in the middle of an important deal, the other side chooses to focus on something irrelevant to the outcome of the deal, but which sends everyone back to the beginning to renegotiate every point now affected. for the new obstacle.

A potentially even more familiar situation is one in which the other party simply refuses to help. More camouflaged, but of the same nature, he is the one who calls sick at the worst possible moment. These obstacles to productivity are simply power plays. The people involved are doing what they are doing because they can!

Power plays are ongoing and take place in almost every interaction between two or more people. In the animal kingdom we call the result ‘pecking order’. Every time a Game is played in Nature or Business, it has an overall effect on the entire ecosystem. The magnitude of the effect is determined by the amount of Strength and Direction the players bring to the Game.

Assumptions about whether Force and Direction are positive or negative are based on our observations and our definitions. Examination of these assumptions forms the basis for developing new rules for the Games.

Determining the quality of an interaction

Every interaction between two individuals occurs as a form of energy. According to Webster, the definition of energy is “an inherent power capacity for action.” When an interaction between two individuals is completed, the energy has a new magnitude and has been redirected from the energy brought into the interaction by each of the two entities. In other words, there is a new “actionability inherent in Power.” This new “inherent Power actionability” is loaded with potential to improve productivity in organizations.

The goal is to identify the rules or principles behind the interactions. The rules that are used determine the nature and quality of the results of Power Games. If done correctly, a person may choose to apply a different set of ‘rules’ to a Power Play to create the most positive actionability, rather than the least.

Cartoon

A caricature is a caricature or exaggeration of the behaviors of individuals. When you begin to study Power Games objectively, with a set of rules in mind, you will be surprised at how distorted and exaggerated the behaviors of the participants appear.

Perspective is everything. When viewed from above, the characters in our corporate Power Games take on familiar features. Patterns begin to emerge. The Games are uncannily like the cartoons of our youth. Except, these are bad cartoons.

What is very different about the corporate characters in our setting from the cartoons of our past is the lack of understanding on the part of the players as to the effect of their choices. In our old faithful cartoons, the good guys always win. They see the posture and greed of the dark characters for what they are (because they are so incredibly obvious), and somehow, naively and effortlessly, get out of the way at the right time. However, they anticipate and thwart evildoers with grace and elegance.

What they do, they do quietly and with guidance and wisdom, rather than force.

Unfortunately, in our world, our corporate Daffy Duck has endless verbal battles with the bureaucrat, Elmer Fudd. Road Runner tries to fight Wily Coyote, instead of outsmarting him. Little Red Riding Hood tries to reason with the Big Bad Wolf.

For those who play the Game on the stage below you, these Power Games are desperate games of survival, fighting, and dominance. Those who should emerge as our heroes instead end up looking down on us as pathetic and ineffectual victims. To avoid becoming a bad cartoon character, you’ll want to determine what some of the behaviors are that lead to these results.

As in any game, the designer determines how and when a person wins. If winning for you is only defined by a traditional view of Power (wealth, control, status, influence, etc.), you may not enjoy this new definition of the Game. Unfortunately, by the rules of that game, there are very few winners and many losers.

However, if you want to improve those definitions of winning to include harmony, joy, productivity, and satisfaction (as well as Productivity for the organization), you may want to adopt a new set of rules.

new rules

There are two forms of Power that participants bring to the Games. We will identify those forms as Personal Power and Positional Power. It is important to distinguish between them because the biggest mistake players suffer in our Power Games is the illusion that Strength (Positional Power) is the key factor in determining the outcome.

Personal power, with or without positional power, can have a huge effect on the outcome of an interaction between two people. In fact, personal power may be far more important in determining outcomes than the oft-worshipped positional power.

Wisdom, the result of true personal power, is often neglected by highly intelligent people who get caught up in the arm wrestling contests that seem to proliferate in our organizations.

Personal power and positional power are often used as opposing forces. A person abdicates Personal Power with its inherent qualities of courage, honesty and integrity, in favor of Positional Power which can include wealth, position, status, security. As a result, the person creates a war within the Self, as well as wars with others. If that same person could understand that there is no need to give up Personal Power to gain Positional Power, the rules and results of the interaction would change.

Too often, a person incorrectly defines personal power as mental prowess for which they have been rewarded over the years. They use their mental ability and “superiority” to beat others. Contrary to his vivid imagination, his belief in his own excellence diminishes his Personal Power, with potentially devastating results for his Power Games results. This affects their ability to influence others and ultimately their careers.

Maybe you know talented people who, by their own justice, have ruined or stalled their careers. Maybe you are one. Or possibly, you are someone who has wonderful skills, knowledge, and insight. And yet, the recognition and rewards that go with those qualities elude you. You begin to believe that it is because you refuse to play the Game. To do this protect your ego. Maybe you just play poorly!

So many victims of power plays, whose life goals are disrupted by the battles that are so much a part of our human social dynamics, could change the course of their lives by understanding the components and value of personal power and its relationship with positional power.