In order to select a wining coalition, Baker needs to map the political terrain in conjunction with his power analysis (Bolman, 2013):
1. Identify relevant relationships.
The only person Dr. Baker has in his corner for sure is Flo, based on her connections to Baker. Baker needs to see if Chris can patch things up with Flo and get Bif to agree …show more content…
Do Crucial Conversations play any role in the political frame? If so, apply to this case. If not, explain why they don’t apply.
Crucial Conversations do play a role, but it is applied on a person to person basis instead of a Group Basis. Crucial Conversations relies heavily on mutual respect, “you can’t stay in the conversation if you don’t maintain Mutual Respect” (Patterson, 2012). The key to remember here is this is not the same as trust. The best example would be attempting to get Chris to join Baker’s coalition, who is often seen as untrustworthy. In Crucial Conversations, the authors advise participants to “deal with trust around the issue, not around the person”. Since there is a mutual purpose, Baker needs to take a chance.
Crucial Conversations could also help in talking with Flo, who has had a falling out with Chris and Bif. Baker should be able to “start with heart” and express how important it for him personally to be able to get the new system implemented. Eventually, Baker can pull Chris into the process to find a solution to their previous problem that may be stopping the coaling from