![\"bear-man\"](\"https:\/\/svapm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/bear-man.gif\" "\\"bear-man\\"")
Political issues often thwart rapid advancement.\u00a0 Organizations by their very nature are political.\u00a0 How can you identify and characterize stakeholder traits that need to be addressed or accommodated if, as a leader, you wish to exercise influence and be more effective within an organization?<\/p>\n
One way to help turn potential victim scenarios into win-win political victories is to assess and negotiate the political landscape.\u00a0 An organic approach to project management means to observe the world we live in and apply natural systems to organizational challenges.\u00a0 Especially when implementing any change in organizations, resistance arises.\u00a0 A metaphor of the political jungle describes this resistance as someone new entering the jungle.\u00a0 Resident animals react to this invasion in different ways, most often by attacking the invader.\u00a0 These reactions can be noted and then used to guide the interloper.\u00a0 Desired behavior is to apply different actions that ensure survival and enable the creation of something new.\u00a0 Three jungle species and their traits can be readily identified.<\/p>\n
Solitary tigers live and hunt in forests alone.\u00a0 The tiger is the largest member of the cat family.\u00a0 Tigers require large areas with forest cover, water, and suitable large prey. \u00a0An adult tiger defends a large area.\u00a0\u00a0 Solitary tigers actually have a rich social life; they just prefer to socialize from a distance.\u00a0 The risk of mortality is high even for territorial adult tigers, especially for males, which must defend their territories from other males.\u00a0 They are strong and skillful empire builders. \u00a0A tiger\u2019s environment is often very political and tenuous because many other animals aspire to take over this territory and reap its benefits.<\/p>\n
In contrast, lions are the most social of cats; both males and females form cooperative groups. They exhibit extensive cooperation in territorial defense, hunting, and cub rearing.\u00a0 Prides compete with each other in territorial disputes.\u00a0 Competition for residence in a pride can be very intense, with larger groups dominating smaller ones in aggressive encounters.\u00a0 Since size counts, members of a coalition often roar in group choruses that makes it obvious they are roaring together and not in competition with each other.\u00a0 They protect their boundaries and develop multiple relationships; they are visible, strong, and skilled.\u00a0 Their \u201croars\u201d are heard across the jungle.<\/p>\n
Bears are solitary and territorial animals.\u00a0 They go out of their way to avoid people and flee as soon as they detect humans.\u00a0 The bear strikes a cord of fear and caution, curiosity and fascination:\u00a0 wily, smart, strong, agile, and independent.\u00a0 Bears have very good memories and are among the shrewdest and most intelligent of mammals.\u00a0 While usually silent, they make a variety of grunts in amiable situations.\u00a0 Bears leave territorial signposts\u2014scent marking and long claw marks in tree bark.\u00a0 Although they possess a fierce and aggressive reputation, bears are more often peaceful and solitary creatures.\u00a0 They prefer to roam in areas undisturbed by humans. \u00a0They have tremendous power and physical strength, intelligence, inner confidence, reserve, and detachment.\u00a0 When in conflict, they retreat into the cave, draw great strength from solitude, and choose peace instead of conflict.<\/p>\n
Successfully navigating a political jungle starts with identifying, naming, and characterizing the \u201canimals\u201d that occupy the political jungle.\u00a0 One exercise I\u2019ve done in workshops is to have each person share what animal best describes them. \u00a0First of all, it\u2019s a fun exercise that diffuses a difficult topic, and second, in a short time we learn so much about each person\u2014how they view themselves, their aspirations, their mode of operating, how they are likely to respond in various situations, \u2026.<\/p>\n
Surviving the political jungle requires specific skills from a project leader.\u00a0 A key point is to speak in the language of the persons needing to receive the message, such as in upper management \u201clion\u201d speak or in engineer \u201cbear\u201d speak.\u00a0 For example, too many technical details do not interest upper managers \u00a0who want to know how a portfolio of projects will create revenue, increase market share, or solve particular problems.\u00a0 Learn the language of each \u201cpolitical animal\u201d so it is possible to converse not only with bears but also the lions and C level tigers.\u00a0 An effective sender matches the style and content of the language used with the preferred means of communicating used by the receiver of the message.<\/p>\n