I had a good example the other day of the potential of the Stakeholder Power/Impact Matrix.
I was discussing with a colleague the framing of another potential programme, and quite informally drew a rough matrix in front of him. I explained the meaning of the two axes and then with him discussed our first impressions of who should appear on the chart, and where they should be placed.
We found the exercise illuminating, not least because the small discipline of deciding where each person or group should go triggered us to articulate some deep-seated and potentially difficult issues around certain individuals
(re-posted from the soon-to-be defunct MSP Blog)