Playing Politics - A Game that Loves Win/Lose Results

In my long career politics are a common encounter. Most people do not like them but many understand that politics are a part of every organization. Now contrary to the classic definition found in any dictionary, politics as it is referred to in the workplace is usually expressed where a very small group or even an individual makes a decision for everyone typically without their consent or even considering their viewpoint. 

Now in many progressive organizations there are strong cultural imperatives and actions that promote great ideas and results, and minimizes back-room deals through high degrees of transparency of data and metrics. Also there are strong traditions of team work and open, consistent communication. 

At this point in the conversation most of my colleagues mention that they have little to no politics. Ultimately politics manifest in very simple results to evaluate. For example let's take someone who is titled as an engineer. A true engineer is up to date with current trends and progress in their field. They are aware of new breakthroughs, respected individuals, latest thinking, and being able to apply these ideas to their deliverables in the workplace. A political engineer on the other hand is more in tune with the personalities, motivations, and insights of certain individuals within an organization. Rather than focus on results, they campaign throughout the organization focusing less on what they are going to deliver as opposed to the shortcomings of what they consider competing ideas. In short the chief difference between a politically motivated individual as opposed their counterpart are results.

It is also amazing to see how many professionals do not understand how much politics plays a role in their career. In many legacy organizations, politics are a commonplace condition to be promoted or to progress one's career objectives especially among executive ranks. This has a lot to do with the fact that there are numerous individuals within the organization that predate newcomer that feel a sense of "entitlement" or "experience with the company" due to their length of tenure. Basically it boils down to the fact that these individuals feel that since they were at the organization longer and before the arrival of newcomers, that they should be the first in line or a cut above the latest entrants. This is the root of the problem since view any form of outcome as a "win/lose" - they have to win, and no one else. Winning basically means looking good to others and maintaining their valuable level position in the face of changes. Any professional that these individuals feel is in any way a competitor either by direct competition for their position or diminishing their "value" are targets or enemies. Hence many newly arriving professionals are immediately beset upon in an attempt to insure that they do not pose a threat. 

Overall political individuals are very easy to recognize. They are very personable and approachable, but very light on any form of documentation or visible sign of support for efforts. They are quick to provide their insights about the hidden workings of the organization, and to provide "advice" in how to handle things usually brokering a position of power as a key go between. They also always insist on being "kept in the loop" on activities with the facade of being helpful. 

On the plus side most political professionals are very easy to recognize and ferret out. Their very abilities are easily transferable between organization to organization and common to all politicals. They dislike the truth and they especially dislike talking about the truth in public. Imagine any government official in any position and how they react when confronted with difficult issues publicly and that pretty much is how politically motivated professionals act as well. 

Truly talented professionals very rarely remain in political organizations. The idea of putting in efforts that are evaluated on purely subjective values is neither fair nor very career enhancing. Also talented professionals have numerous outlets and opportunities in the marketplace. In the end the organization that only has political individuals gets very little done and starts to lose ground to competitive market forces. The resulting turmoil to survive takes it's toll on the organization. In many cases, the ultimate lose is the organization who allow too much political power into their value propositions.