If you’re just joining our Book Club series, you’ll want to start here.
Welcome back.
Chapter 8. Alliances.
Some good concepts to add to your toolkit this week and a case study that ties back to chapters past.
Here’s what stood out for me this week:
Alliance Building Plan
Great idea. More 2nd wave than early wins. But never too early to start building relationships.
So what to include?
Who you’ll need support from.
Who may resist or actively block.
Who influences the influencer(s)
Coalitions (p. 163) and Allies (p. 164).
When to approach (sequencing p. 110).
Now Draw a picture….
Mapping this (Fig. 8-1 p. 164) is such a clever idea. I’d simplify it - scribble it on a whiteboard, stand back and see what works. Then add colour - green/orange/red (p. 166) for what’s working (green), what’s kinda/sorta on-track (orange) and what’s stuck (red). It turns the diagram into an action plan.
Influence networks
Great tips (p. 162) on understanding influence networks. Observing in meetings, etc. I haven't recommended this to clients in the past. But I will going forward.
Resistance
Straightforward reasons for resistance on p. 165. But it’s the situational pressures discussion that’s the best insight of this chapter. Research suggests "....we overestimate the impact of personality and underestimate the impact of situational pressures in reaching conclusions about the reasons people act the way they do" (p. 166)
Make your life easier - look for situational pressures first. Changing those is infinitely easier than trying to change someone’s personality. Infinitely.
Influence Strategies (p. 167)
Incrementalism (p.170) was the only strategy I’d use. Bite size pieces can make change efforts so much easier to support.
How you frame arguments. (p. 168) is worth a look. Data + emotion is a winning combination.
Alexia
Alexia got out over her skis and created all sorts of problems for herself. This week my takeaways are a blend of this chapter and past:
Early wins vs. 2nd wave change efforts: Remember early wins from Chapter 5? Alexia’s change efforts seem 2nd wave ( p. 101) to me. Too much, too early. Stick with early wins instead. Low-hanging fruit, building relationships and align with your boss’s priorities.
Reframe the argument: Alexia didn’t even get support from her bosses. She could have taken a page out of Hannah’s playbook back in Chapter 6 (p. 118). Be persistent. Add layer after layer of depth to subsequent arguments. You may need many attempts before you get your boss onside.
Resistance: Be ready. Especially when you mess with things we value (autonomy). That’s gonna be a battle, so have your allies in place.
What were your takeaways this week?
Chapter Questions
These questions are great. They walk you through the chapter concepts step by step.
Conclusion
Some great ideas, tools and a nice wrap up with the end of chapter questions. A good start to this topic. More than enough for your transition.
That’s it for Chapter 8…… next week Chapter 9.
Chapter 10 is for organizations, so we’ll skip that for this series.
That means next week is our last chapter….. we’re almost done!!
