Baddeley and James1 Political Skills Model Reading and Carrying

Reading.. an individuals ability to read an organisation: to read its decision

processes, its overt and covert agendas, the location and bases of power inside and outside the organisation, ones own power bases and abilities to exercise influence, the organisational culture and its style, its political purpose and direction, its small and large p politics

Carrying.. an individuals predisposition to act with integrity or engage in

psychological game playing (as described in Bernes Transactional Analysis model, 1968). Game playing is self oriented.the pay off for playing psychological games is that the players feelings about himself or herself and about the rest of the world are conformed. In the process, someone ends up feeling bad. When people act with integrity in their dealings with others their behaviour does not involve the compulsion to engage in exchanges with this kind of pay off

In the research carried out by James and Arroba the two dimensions that are found to be key in the political environs of public sector organisations were the ability to place a focus on

The contents of this handout are taken from:a) an article by Simon Baddeley and Kim James of the

Institute of Local Government, University of Birmingham: Owl, Fox, Donkey or Sheep:Political Skills for Managers (published in Management Education and Development Vol.18 1987
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b) an article by Kim James and Tanya Arroba, Cranfield School of Management:

Reading and Carrying: a framework for learning about emotion and emotionality in organisational systems as a core aspect of leadership development: Management Learning, Vol. 36, No. 3, 299-316 (2005)

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Baddeley and James Political Skills Model - Reading and Carrying

reading the situation, combined with the ability to manage what is personally being carried into the situation. The dimension of Reading means having the willingness and ability to turn attention outwards to Read the context. There are two poles to this dimension. At one end lies the ability to clearly focus outwards and grasp the less than obvious aspects of the organisational setting, gather intelligence and act on it appropriately. At the other end, behaviour is reflected in an unwillingness or inability to focus outwards, or only to Read the situation through a constrained and limited lens. It is the ability to appreciate the need to Read the situation, backed up by skill in doing so, that characterises good Reading capacity. The dimension of Carrying, managing what is being carried into a situation, means having the ability to tune into the internal world and be aware of what thoughts and feelings are present, understanding the basis for what is being carried, using this information and making conscious choices about action. To be able to Read and Carry well requires the manager to become aware of aspects of the organisation that are usually not attended to and even actively avoided because they are perceived have a negative affect for the organisation. Without awareness of difficult emotions that underpin observable behaviour, much organisation behaviour is puzzling; the manager who cant understand why a perfectly good plan is not being executed may have few choices for intervening if s/he doesnt grasp that it is underwater rocks their ship has run into. Using the 4 box matrix to understand behaviours: Where an integrated sense of self resulting from the experience of being either comfortable with ones capability or perception of being on familiar territory meet an unskilled Reading of the environment, the result is Innocent behaviour Where unskilled Reading meets lack of self-insight, the choice is frequently ego defensive behaviour as a way of defending the self in situations that one cannot make sense of or feel good in. We call this option Inept. Where skilled Reading meets self- serving and defensive ego needs the resulting behaviour is likely to be controlling and manipulative. We call this Clever behaviour. Where skilled Reading meets self-insight and willingness to put oneself at the edge of what is familiar, to risk new options because the situation calls for ones highest values to be exercised then the Wise option is chosen.

In complex organisational settings, people need the ability to simultaneously understand the world out there and their interior world, make sense of both and choose appropriate behaviour and that we all have the ability to act in all four ways. The strength of the model lies in understanding how each of us can be Wise one minute and Inept the next. The external world we need to Read is in constant flux and the interior world is equally variable and the interface between the two is crucial in making informed choice of action.

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Baddeley and James Political Skills Model - Reading and Carrying

Typical clever behaviours

interested in power and in associating with the focus of power unprincipled, inner goal oriented, not ethical wants to be seen as powerful thinks before speaking, aggressive but well masked, charming manner can stimulate feelings, plans, actions doesnt display feelings spontaneously asks what information do I have? What information do I need? checks gossip, rumour, is aware of others viewpoints sees realities, knows how the formal processes work basically insecure, but well defended always leaves jobs before mistakes are discovered manipulates situations so as to appear never to make mistakes can make procedures work for them, hustler, wide-boy, card shark knows how the formal and informal organisation works knows who cares, who can, who knows gets support, good at ingraciation, bargains, manipulates likes games involving winners and losers can recognise and exploit key weaknesses in allies and opponents

Most likely to say

Leave it to me, Ill have a word with him, hes out of touch I think it would be unwise for me to take this one, its very delicate. How about you you know how good you are I have discussed this very thoroughly already and were united in this (actually rubbish!) I share some of his / her feelings on this matter, if not quite so passionately

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Baddeley and James Political Skills Model - Reading and Carrying

Typical wise behaviours

aware of purpose interested in direction in association with power and purpose can cope with being disliked, good interpersonal skills personal values / ethics, thinks before speaking, assertive, tactful, emotionally literate, plans actions, checks gossip / rumour excellent listener, is aware of others viewpoints takes account of other people personally sees realities, knows how the formal processes work non-defensive, learns from mistakes, reflects on events can make procedures work for them sense of loyalty capacity for friendship knows the formal and informal organisations open, shares information in tune with the grapevine recognises who knows, who cares, who can gets support negotiates / co-operates likes win-win situations

Most likely to say

how are we going to get this sorted out? I wonder whats lying behind these ideas? Lets look at the ways we can speed this up and get over the difficulties Let me make sure I understand what youre asking for I dont think Ive been understanding you, can I have another go?

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Baddeley and James Political Skills Model - Reading and Carrying

Typical inept behaviours

not skilled interpersonally unprincipled hates to be ignored, likes to associate with authority inner-goal oriented doesnt recognise direction, doesnt appreciate political purpose plays psychological games but doesnt read those of others emotionally literate concerned with own feelings rather than others predisposed to projection, attribution and paranoia makes judgements / decisions based on feelings rather than knowledge of the bureaucracy or organisational procedures not ethical interpersonally inept at making alliances / coalitions tends to say shall we take a vote? in the wrong setting doesnt listen to others tries hard to be nice but doesnt know how sees things as either / or not tuned into grapevine, blocked antennae given to clichs you know me, with all due respect

Most likely to say

Lets decide what we want and make it look like what they want Well, we all know how he got his job, dont we? If the chairman wants to come to our meeting, well just have to tell him he cant come

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Baddeley and James Political Skills Model - Reading and Carrying

Typical innocent behaviours

principled, ethical tends to rely on authority doesnt appreciate political purpose doesnt network, doesnt know how to get support listens but does not hear sticks to ethical, organisational and professional rules understands content, but not process of procedures exaggerated respect for rationality literal believes you are powerful if you are right wouldnt know a double message if it hit between the eyes by it sense of loyalty capacity for friendship open, shares information sees things as either / or

Most likely to say

Could we get on with the main task of this meeting? Well in strict hierarchical terms, I think its Xs decision If only they would simply tell us what they really want, then we could get on with it In my professional opinion

Political awareness has been adapted from the work of Simon Baddeley and Dr. Kim James, of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Birmingham University. http://www.inlogov.bham.ac.uk/

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