discussion 5: Welcome to the discussion. The first week of the module you will write about your initial thoughts after reviewing the resources. The initial post should be at least 600 words. During the following week you will reply to at least two of your classmates. The replies should be at least 300 words. See the discussion rubric for more details on grading. Discussions should always be completed prior to "class." If you are in an online class or an on ground course this is prior to the lesson portion of the week. Are you ready to begin? 1. Watch the Ted Talk: How too many rules at work keep you from getting things done 2. Initial Post Discuss the impact of internal politics on an organization. What are some of the tools that an effective leader can use to overcome negativity, territorial behaviors and internal politics in order to change the organizational culture? 3. Reply Posts

Choose two (2) students that you agree or disagree with and reply to them. You can also reply to your professor’s posts. Posts must contain thought provoking and analytical observations ; contributions embedded with academic literature and a list of references are encouraged. reply on this student #1: Politics are a part of every organization. This is what many times governs position, responsibility, policy, procedures and decisions. These are all needed within an organization, but far too often these things can get in the way of developing a strong workplace culture and productivity within the organization. Some of the negative side-effects of workplace politics can put distance between lower-level employees and executives, which makes stakeholders in the company feel as if they are not so important to the company vision (Fallon, 2014). This does not produce a good workplace culture and will sure to hinder sustainability within the organization. For this reason, it is better to minimize politics within an organization. By limiting politics within an organization, the organization is sure to become more productive. In his TED talk, Yves Morieux (2015), explains how far too often employees within organizations spend 40 to 80 percent of their time wasting their time. This is linked to a lack of cooperation and too much focus on the politics of procedures, interfaces, summaries, and reports. Morieux states that employees will have to do, undo and redo work in this type of environment which cause a complete waste of time and a slowdown in production (Morieux, 2015). Many times, because of office politics, executives refuse to hear employees in regard to their thoughts on how things should be done, and this lack of cooperation slows down company production. Morieux relates this to a relay race. He references an Olympic relay race in which the French relay team beat the US relay team but based on the numbers this shouldn’t have happened (Morieux, 2015). Based on the numbers, the US relay team should have won the race by 6.2 meters, but they didn’t because this race wasn’t based on policy and procedure but on cooperation. Morieux states that it is this cooperation that also makes organizations win and stay at the top (Morieux, 2015). The ability to minimize politics within an organization starts with the leadership and the best way to do this is to encourage transparency and collaboration at all levels (Fallon, 2014). When leadership encourages this type of behavior in the workplace it spurs cooperation amongst employees. Entrepreneur and Harvard Business Graduate David Frankel suggests the following steps to breakdown the divide when it comes to politics in the workplace. Frankel suggests reducing the distance from company decisions (Fallon, 2014). This allows for collaboration from everyone in the organization, produces new ideas, and keeps executives and other employees from distancing themselves from each other. Secondly, Frankel says to not tolerate political behavior and to stop it as soon as it begins (Fallon, 2014). If someone is expressing or pushing their personal agenda within the organization then it is up to leadership to put that to bed as soon as possible. Lastly, Frankel says to demand accountability from all team members (Fallon, 2014). This ensures that everyone know that they are valuable to the vision of the organization and it is up to everyone to work together in their role to accomplish that vision. It is true that every company and every organization is going to have a trace of politics in the workplace, but it important to keep it at bay and not allow it to interfere with the workplace culture. This is what destroys organizations, innovation, and creativity.