"Sometimes you can win over opponents by making them part of your team or giving them a stake in the system. You might be surprised at how thoroughly you can redirect their energies. Some years ago a group of women faculty members, staffers, and students at the University of Illinois began pressuring the school because women there were paid less than men in comparable jobs and with similar skills. The administration's response was brilliant: It established a Committee on the Status of Women, gave the committee some stationary, a budget, and a modest amount of office space – legitimacy and a few resources – and told it to study the facts and offer recommendations. This effectively co-opted the opposition, making its members feel they were part of the university, not outsiders. As their estrangement diminished, so did the stridency of their demands; soon they were almost as concerned about the committee's budget for the following year as they were about the status of female employees on campus." – Jeffrey Pfeffer, Power Play

"The above excerpt from Jeffrey Pfeffer's Harvard Business Review Article, Power Play, provides a disturbing example of what too commonly happens to women who seek increased power and influence: they are co-opted. Whether it is that women are co-opted through women's initiatives or that the initiatives are given too few resources to begin with, power and organizational dynamics have a determining impact on the advancement of women in law." [And I would suggest women in general – MC]

I don't know about you - this excerpt sickens me, especially the declaration that 'The administration's response was brilliant...'. Are we really that naive and gullible? I hope not. I share it as merely a 'danger, danger' signal. This article wasn't written so long ago that it is no longer relevant (written in 2010). I'd love to hear your reaction to his message offered in this article.