OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Politcal Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the political frame
2. Apply the political frame to your personal case situation
1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.
I work as a Licensed Broker’s Assistant at a commercial real estate brokerage. I recently
decided that I wanted to re-create the website we have been using for a few years now. After
showing my boss my first draft he had nothing positive to say and did not understand the
improved functionality of it. I made change after change and was making no progress
towards gaining the support fo my boss. Eventually I changed my approach and began to ask
him what the goal was, who he was targeting, and why it was designed the way it had been.
This made me realize my solution was wildly detached from the problem I had perceived.
2) Describe how the politics of the organization influenced the situation.
My situation was influenced by the politics of our organization. My boss as a politician
influenced the sitatuation since he lacked competency in a key area. A leader when viewed as
a politician, needs to develop four key skills including: Agenda Setting, Mapping the
Political Terrain, Networking and Building Coalitions, and Bargaining and Negotiation. The
area of political skills that my boss was lacking in is the bargaining and negotioation tactics.
“Agreeing on criteria at the beginning of negotiations can produce optimism and momentum,
while reducing the use of devious or provocative tactics that get in the way of a mutually
beneficial solution” (Bolman & Deal, 2017, pg. 212). Once my boss percieves any amount of
resistance to his established process or debate about a position he has taken, he becomes
defensive and eager to re-explain his point. Instead of agreeing on terms for our negotiation
and creating a mutual understanding that we both have a common goal in mind is a more
efficient approach and allows for a productive, friendly conversation.
Another way organizational politics influenced this situation is because our team has a Top-
Down structure for political initiative, relying on the executive’s capacity to influence their
subordinates. I think my boss perceives himself as the “gatekeeper” which causes him to be
less transparent because he wants to make sure that he is in control. “Since organizations are
coalitions, and the different participants have varying interests and preferences, the critical
question becomes not how organizations should be designed to maximize effectiveness, but
rather, whose preferences and interests are to be served by the organization… What is
effective for students may be ineffective for administrators” (Bolman & Deal, 2017, pg. 221).
Our team is focused on serving the interests of my boss considering the fact that he owns the
business. This heavily influenced the situation since my boss felt like I was out of place
making the suggestion to make changes and caused him to incorrectly perceive I had a
different goal than him.
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 3) Recommend how you would use organizational politics for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.
I would use organizational politics for finding an alternative course of action for this situation
by starting off the negotiation by agreeing on the fact that we have mutual goals and avoid
deceptive tactics to find the solution that is most beneficial to both of us. Because I
understand that we have a Top-Down structure for sourcing political initiative, I would
approach the conversation by expressing this fact and creating an understanding that I want
to have the website better serve his interests. The political frame has helped me understand
where I sit on the totem pole and why my boss reacted so poorly to my blatant acqusation
that he could easily improve the processes he built.

Another way I would use organizational politics to find an alternative approach is by having
the discussion with my boss about power and decision making. “Alliances form because
members have interests in common and believe the can do more together than apart.”
(Bolman & Deal, 2017, pg 191). Since I feel he perceives himself as the “Gatekeeper” I
would explain to him the need for him to provide me with information and the power to
impact change so that we can accomplish more together than he can alone. I had not meant to
come across as trying to accomplish more on my own, so reiterating these points would
likely lead to a more healthy interaction.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.
Now that I understand what organizational politics are and how they impact the relationships
within an organization, I would approach the situation differently. I would begin the
conversation not by presenting him with the draft website I created, but by reiterating the fact
that I want to find a solution that offers the most mutually beneficial solution possible. I will
let him know how important his input is and that I can offer a new percpetive to the situation
to create a solution that would not have been possible seperately. He often feels like he has to
do everything on his own because he has for 25+ years, so I would try to implement a
structural change to our organizational politics so I am able to feel more comfortable
discussing and defending my choices.

When this situation occurred I was not comfortable discussing my ideas, much less defending
them because my boss always gets defensive as if I am undermining his position. By clearly
agreeing upon criteria for negotiation I can create optimism and momentum for finding a
more beneficial solution allows both of us to stop getting defensive. This will change the
perception of the discussion from “Me Versus Him” to “Us versus Them”. The political
dynamics of an organization proved to be destructive for me during this situation. With my
new understanding, I can utilize these dynamics to influence a change in the political
dynamics and get closer to the decision making level by developing a closer relationship with
my boss and approaching conflict with the mindet that we are looking for the most mutually

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 beneficial solution. This will allow me to feel comfortable defending my opinions and
reducing defensive behavior from my boss.

References

1. Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership (6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass