Micropolitics and working as a performance analyst in professional sport

This chapter introduces the background to, and theoretical concepts of, micropolitics, along with some of the key findings from related literature. It provides a discussion that emphasises performance analysts’ understanding of the complex and ambiguous nature of professional working life, and some suggestions for improving your ability to navigate the micropolitical terrain. Frequently used throughout the literature, Blase’s definition of micropolitics states that micro-politics refers to the use of formal and informal power by individuals and groups to achieve their goals. Key to Kelchtermans’ micro-political inquiry are two frameworks: subjective educational theory, which is the personal system of knowledge and beliefs about professional sport that practitioners use to perform their jobs, and the personal interpretive framework, which is the set of beliefs and representations developed over time that operates as a lens through which practitioners perceive their job situation and their behaviours.