In dealing with constituencies outside the primary task, managers have to think politically.
When it comes to the performance of the primary task of an institution—whether economic goods and services in the case of the business, health care in that of a hospital, or scholarship and higher education in that of the university—the rule is to optimize. There, managers have to base their decisions on what is right rather than on what is acceptable. But in dealing with the constituencies outside and beyond this narrow definition of the primary task, managers have to think politically—in terms of the minimum needed to placate and appease and keep quiet constituent groups that otherwise might use their power of veto. Managers cannot be politicians. They cannot confine themselves to “satisficing” decisions. But they also cannot be concerned only with optimization in the central area of performance of their institution. They have to balance both approaches in one continuous decision-making progress. The corporation is an economic institution. But it is also a political institution.
Managers have to think through what the constituencies are that can effectively veto and block decisions, and what their minimum expectations and needs should be.
ACTION POINT: List the constituents of your enterprise. Next, list how you plan to optimize the needs of your customers and meet at least the minimum expectations of each of the other constituents.
A Functioning Society
* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker