So, after hearing the most common pitfalls, take some time to critically look at your own work.

There are two things you really need to check.

The first one is:
Are you, yourself, somewhere in the Power Interest grid or did you forget to think of yourself? You are the one who decided to analyze your case of a complex situation, so you must at least have an interest, mustn’t you! So put yourself in the grid and think about what your role can be in both analyzing and changing your complex situation.

 

The second one is:
Check very carefully if you did not represent your complex situation as a dichotomous situation of one group in favor of a certain solution or change and another group of stakeholders who use all their power to prevent that idea from implementation. This is a classic: ‘The problem I need to solve is that I have a good idea, but they are against it’. Does not bring you any further. Please take some time to think of a lot more stakeholders that together represent much more variety. If you can’t come up with new stakeholders, use brainstorm techniques and associate from strange directions towards your situation. What happens if you think about teachers and your complex situation? What happens if you think about your favorite restaurant and your complex situation? What happens if you think about your favorite TV show or music, or festival, or whatever in relation to your complex situation? Doesn’t make sense? Well that is the purpose, to come up with things you would normally never think about… Just give it a try! And when you found many new ones, also include them in your Power Interest grid.