This is a great column Jos. i wish I had been better at this game. I applied these principles when dealing with other teams/coworkers at all levels when working on providing support to major customers of our services. But I failed to form close relationships with management and people higher up the food chain and I think that was not in my best interest. Most importantly at smaller organizations where politics can be more important than technical prowess.
perhaps naive, but what constitutes a political action at a software company? what political actions are available to me? if it’s some game i’m supposed to be playing i’d like to know the controls. your anecdotes are acutely interesting, but broadly i’m unsure how to apply their lessons. is it as simple as “keep others’ goals in mind”?
Well written. (And, I am one who wishes to have learned this earlier.)
In my ignorant youth, I had approximately this conversation with a project manager (an absolutely excellent one, to be sure. We enjoyed good mutual respect, so our conversations tended to be frank):
Me: Besides sending all these documents around and hounding us to write them, what is it you do?
PjM: Politics, on your behalf.
Me: Why do we need to do politics at all?
PjM: Because humans.
Me: Humans?
PjM: Yes. Humans are abrasive, so lubrication is required. In society at large, that lubricant is politicians. In companies, it's project managers.
Me: Oh I see. So you'd be willing to set "Lubricant" as your job title if you could?
PjM: Absolutely. Any instant. And, that'll be "Staff Lubricant" please.
Me: Wow.
PjM: You know this thing about lubricants...
Me: What?
PjM: It feels so much better when you don't actually need it. So, when are you gonna learn to facilitate lubrication on your own?
This is a great column Jos. i wish I had been better at this game. I applied these principles when dealing with other teams/coworkers at all levels when working on providing support to major customers of our services. But I failed to form close relationships with management and people higher up the food chain and I think that was not in my best interest. Most importantly at smaller organizations where politics can be more important than technical prowess.
great post. i’m a little unclear on the details.
perhaps naive, but what constitutes a political action at a software company? what political actions are available to me? if it’s some game i’m supposed to be playing i’d like to know the controls. your anecdotes are acutely interesting, but broadly i’m unsure how to apply their lessons. is it as simple as “keep others’ goals in mind”?
Well written. (And, I am one who wishes to have learned this earlier.)
In my ignorant youth, I had approximately this conversation with a project manager (an absolutely excellent one, to be sure. We enjoyed good mutual respect, so our conversations tended to be frank):
Me: Besides sending all these documents around and hounding us to write them, what is it you do?
PjM: Politics, on your behalf.
Me: Why do we need to do politics at all?
PjM: Because humans.
Me: Humans?
PjM: Yes. Humans are abrasive, so lubrication is required. In society at large, that lubricant is politicians. In companies, it's project managers.
Me: Oh I see. So you'd be willing to set "Lubricant" as your job title if you could?
PjM: Absolutely. Any instant. And, that'll be "Staff Lubricant" please.
Me: Wow.
PjM: You know this thing about lubricants...
Me: What?
PjM: It feels so much better when you don't actually need it. So, when are you gonna learn to facilitate lubrication on your own?