The Key to Getting Things Done: Know Your Authorising Environment
In every workplace, a vital but often overlooked element determines whether we succeed in getting things done: our authorising environment. It’s a concept that may not get a lot of airtime in day-to-day conversations, but its influence is profound. Understanding your authorising environment can be the difference between frustration and flow, especially when navigating complex tasks or driving change.
So, what is it, why does it matter, and how can you work with it to achieve your goals?
What Is an Authorising Environment?
Your authorising environment is the people, systems, and structures that grant you the legitimacy, support, and resources to act. It includes formal hierarchies—your boss, senior leaders, and boards—as well as informal influencers, like peers, stakeholders, and even cultural norms within the organisation. These entities shape what you can and cannot do, who you need to convince, and how you should proceed to be effective.
It’s not just about permission—it’s about alignment. Having the authority to do something doesn’t always mean you have the trust or the buy-in required to make it happen. Understanding your authorising environment helps you navigate both the explicit and implicit dynamics that govern how work gets done.
Why It Matters
Clarifies Boundaries
Knowing who or what constitutes your authorising environment helps clarify the boundaries of your role. It gives you a sense of where your influence starts and stops and where you may need to engage others to bridge gaps.
Builds Momentum
When you understand who holds the keys to progress, you can focus your energy on the right conversations with the right people. This prevents wasted time and effort on dead ends.
Mitigates Risk
Acting without a clear understanding of your authorising environment can lead to unintended consequences. You might overstep your boundaries or miss critical support, leaving your work vulnerable to resistance or rejection.
Empowers Innovation
By understanding the constraints and opportunities within your authorising environment, you can find creative ways to challenge the status quo without alienating key stakeholders.
Three Steps to Work with Your Authorising Environment
1. Map Your Stakeholders
Identify the individuals or groups that influence your work. Think beyond your immediate manager to include the following:
Formal decision-makers
Informal influencers
External stakeholders (e.g., clients, regulators).
Create a simple map to visualise who needs to be informed, consulted, or actively involved in your work.
2. Understand Their Expectations
What does success look like for each stakeholder? Understanding their priorities, pressures, and concerns allows you to align your approach. This might mean adjusting timelines, framing ideas differently, or even deciding which battles are worth fighting.
3. Build Trust and Rapport
Relationships are the currency of influence. Building trust with your authorising environment doesn’t happen overnight, but consistent communication, delivery on promises, and empathy go a long way. Regular check-ins and seeking feedback can turn a sceptical stakeholder into a strong ally.
Signs You’re Not in Tune with Your Authorising Environment
Repeated Blockages: Your ideas are regularly stalled or shut down.
Confusion: You're unsure who to involve in decisions or feel blindsided by resistance.
Burnout: You’re doing all the right things, but feel you’re getting nowhere.
When these symptoms appear, it’s time to revisit your authorising environment. Who do you need to engage? Have expectations shifted? Are you relying too heavily on formal authority and not enough on relationships?
Just like a sailor needs to understand the wind to navigate effectively, you need to understand your authorising environment to steer your work toward success. If you align your sails with the wind—knowing where it’s coming from, how strong it is, and when it might shift—you can move forward smoothly. But if you ignore the wind or misread it, you’ll find yourself stalled, adrift, or even capsized.
By understanding and working with your authorising environment, you catch the wind in your sails, turning it into momentum that propels you forward.
Understanding your authorising environment isn’t a one-off exercise; it’s an ongoing practice. As your role evolves and your workplace dynamics shift, so too will the people and systems you need to engage with. Staying attuned to these changes is key to maintaining your effectiveness and momentum.
In the end, work gets done not just through hard skills or individual brilliance but through our ability to navigate the authorising environment. By doing so, we align our efforts with the forces that empower us, ensuring that our ideas move from intention to impact.
So, take a moment to ask yourself: who’s in your authorising environment, and how well do you know their expectations? The answer could unlock your next big achievement.