Reframing Organizations

When instituting change at any organization, everything runs much more smoothly when you can come to a consensus. At a University, where employees tend to be both educated and independent, this can be difficult, but some would argue, even more important.  Today, we’re going to provide a step-by-step guide to building consensus, and talk about how understanding politics, a concept too-often thought of as dirty deals behind closed doors, can be one of your keys to success. Building Consensus: A Case Study To demonstrate how politics can help you succeed, let’s look at the story of the University of Portersville. Names and places have been changed, but the concepts are real, and play out every year in universities across the country. University of Portersville is led by President Barnes, a leader who despises politics. In line with his philosophy, he recently enacted a Self-Directed Work Team system for support departments, and has given each department the opportunity to define their...