Add BITE To Your Political Analysis?
Political mapping is an area I field many questions in.
Even salespeople pathologically disposed against selling “systems” are often fascinated by a tool or three that can help them visualise the potential machinations at play prospectside.
Perhaps the simplest of entry-level models can be adapted from the discipline of perceptual mapping in general.
Take a 2×2 matrix. Moving away from the bottom-left corner, from ‘lo’ to ‘hi’. Plot individual ♡ for you and your proposal against that buyer’s $ clout.
Then plan who you can get talking to who else. And how they ought be primed. So that influence is brought to bear in your favour.
I just learned something of the assessment of a cult. Quite a news trend of the year.
Apparently those that think they’re too smart to fall into the cult trap are most likely to do just that.
Yikes.
A framework is proposed to deduce how destructive an organisation might be.
From one-time Moonie turned cult-busting author, Steve Hassan.
His quartet of ‘controls’ to measure provides the acronym BITE;
Behaviour – Information – Thought – Emotional
Clearly, a potential buyer is not to be confused with a nefarious cult.
Although I have sadly encountered sinister cultures that could be.
In this instance, let’s merely draw the parallel that if any of these four areas are being controlled by those not currently minded towards your proposal, then trouble looms large.
How about these kinds of cultural signposts?
Behaviour
Is micromanagement in evidence?
How tight are the purse-strings held?
Are there any non-work patterns on display, such as with lunching, attire or even document presentation that may reveal a hidden hand on the tiller?
Information
Do seemingly unnecessary or unduly onerous tasks overly occupy people which ought not?
Are staffers not only told how to do their job, but having to report back continuously about progress?
What levels of scapegoating occur on previous project assessment?
Thought
What is their in-house terminology and how does it match your best deal-crafting language?
Who is their ‘enemy’?
What topics are off-limits?
Emotional
What are typical tenure lengths, overall at the company and also for role or project spans?
How are you being treated as a potential supplier?
What examples of partnership are visible with those also from elsewhere?
Perhaps such insight could indeed lead you to a true centre of power, suggest how loaded against you it may be, and provide the means in which to make it receptive to your outcomes.