Influence Without Authority. Cohen Allan R.

you get going.1

      The model we developed is based on a universal principle of interaction social scientists call the Law of Reciprocity. It states that people expect to get “paid back for what they do for others.” When someone helps you, you are expected sooner or later to somehow reciprocate, in some reasonably equivalent way. This give and take – formally called exchange – is a core part of all human interaction and the lubricant that makes organizations functional.

Although the concept of give and take is in many ways simple and straightforward, the process of exchange is more complicated. We have found that there are six essential components (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Summary of the Cohen-Bradford Model of Influence without Authority

Brief Summary of the Steps of the Model

      Assume everyone is a potential ally. With this mindset, no matter how difficult the interaction might be, it is possible that the other may eventually help. With enough exploration, it is likely that almost everyone cares about something that you could offer in return for what you seek.

      Clarify your goals and priorities. Be sure you know what you want, what is most important, and what you would settle for. Be specific; “good working relationship” is too general to be useful.

      Diagnose the world of the other person. In organizational life, people care about many things including how they are measured and rewarded, what their boss expects, their unit's culture, the actual tasks they are assigned, and so on. Knowing what they care about helps in (tentatively) figuring out what you might offer.

      Identify relevant currencies, theirs, yours. Since exchange is involved, currencies provide a useful metaphor for what someone values. Most people value many different currencies, and fortunately, most people wanting influence often have more currencies than they might think.

      Dealing with relationships. This has two aspects: (a) how good (or strained) is the present relationship and (b) how does the other person want to be related to?

      Influence through give and take. In this process you give something the other party values (a currency) in exchange for what you want. This can be done implicitly or explicitly, casually or formally, depending on the relationship, the organization's culture, and both parties' personal preferences.

      Chapter 2 (and the rest of the book) explores all these steps in more detail. But much of the time influence happens when people use elements of this model instinctively and automatically. When you already have a good relationship and have been mutually influencing one another for some time, you don't need conscious diagnosis, reflection on your key goals, or an assessment of the relationship. It comes naturally. Like the person in Moliere's play who discovered that after all these years he was unknowingly speaking “prose,” you probably already are doing much of what we describe here without thinking about it, especially when things are going well.

But other conditions make influence more difficult. These are listed in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2 Conditions Requiring Conscious Use of an Influence Model

      Conscious attention to this model isn't necessary at all times, but when useful, consider the model analogous to a pilot's checklist, which is followed routinely before a flight. Pilots know what to do, but the checklist ensures they cover all the bases. Such an influence checklist is especially helpful when you face an anxiety-provoking situation that may narrow your focus and constrain the alternatives considered.

      Under those conditions where one meets resistance and little cooperation, the reverse of this model can play out. Rather than seeing the others as potential allies, it is hard not to slip into seeing them as recalcitrant fools – or worse. Rather than fully understanding their world, the common tendency is to simplify and stereotype it. The stress of the situation can lead you to forget your primary goals and just want to do the other in. Most people don't intend to do that, but that is why a model helps. It allows you to step back and make sure that conditions let you achieve influential win-win outcomes. But what are the barriers to doing that?

      Barriers to Influence

We need to start by acknowledging that in some conditions influence is not possible (Table 1.3). There truly are impossible people (though far fewer than most people think). And some external conditions may block a working relationship. However, we have found that in most cases influence fails because of internal barriers within the influencer. Those are ones you have the most control over.

Table 1.3 Barriers to Influence

External Barriers

      Too great a power differential between you and the person or group you want to influence. There may be such a hierarchical distance that it is impossible to make contact or the difference is so great that you have little to offer. But we often overestimate the inaccessibility of those even a couple of levels above us.

      The people you want to influence have such different personal and organizational goals and objectives that you can't find common ground. This can be true or it can just reflect not searching deep enough.

      The people you want to influence have incompatible performance measures. These may not let them respond to what you want. The measurement system may give them little latitude.

      The people you want to influence are rivals, or feel competitive and don't want you to succeed. Or there might be too great a negative history between you (or your units) that cooperation is impossible. But organizations that fiercely compete with each other (like IBM and Microsoft) can find common ground in a specific product (like developing the chip for the Xbox).

      These can be objective reasons why the other cannot be influenced, but be sure before you jump to that conclusion. You will see many examples of people who reached across several boundaries, who discovered things the other would want, who uncovered a common goal underneath the differences and who, with great effort, could build working relationships with previous adversaries

Internal Barriers

      Occasionally, you can't overcome these external barriers, no matter how skilled an influencer you are. However, we have discovered that far more often, the barriers are inside the influencer.

      These internal barriers include:

      Lack of knowledge of how to go about influencing when there are objective difficulties. As instinctive as some kinds of influence are, many people do not have a very conscious idea of how to go about it when the other person or group is not responsive. They don't think of influence as a kind of exchange, and don't understand how important it is to deliver something the other person values, rather than what they themselves value. They emphasize how wonderful what they want is, and forget that it must appeal to something the other person or group cares about.

      Attitudes that blind you to important objective information that would help you. Do you think that you shouldn't have to try to influence others; they should just recognize truth (or a better mousetrap) and give in? Another dysfunctional attitude is rapidly writing off anyone who doesn't quickly go along with a request, assuming that they are deficient in some important way. We will say a lot about this all-too-common barrier and how to overcome it. And another handicap is knowing what would move the other person but you can't stand people who want that, so you back off or become hostile.

      Fear of the other person or group and how they might react. Frequently, people recognize that to gain influence they need

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By their very nature, models are simplified abstractions from reality, highlighting what is important and needs attention. Reality is usually messier, especially people with their differing perceptions, feelings, and assumptions. In any given instance, you may have to make adjustments and inferences, but a good model helps sort things out. Our influence model takes what social scientists had previously treated as descriptive – the presence of reciprocity among people – and makes it prescriptive and proactive. Combined with our research in organizations, the model breaks into steps what often is just taken for granted or feels overwhelming.