Office Politics PDF Print E-mail

 ... is bollocks, but good scientists don't ignore what's staring them in the face. Politics should not be ignored - it should be understood, so you can work with it.

People get ahead in their job by doing one or more of these things well:

  • Their job
  • Other stuff

You probably know someone in your organisation who isn't that great at their job, but is doing well anyway. Why is that? They're good at the other stuff.

What IS that other stuff?

Engineers can often believe that being good at your job is the only thing that matters. In a meritocracy, that's true - but I would pay you real money if you find any company that's completely meritocratic. So let's examine the "other stuff" that you need to get stuff done.

  • Are you anointed with a title? Have you been here for many years? Are you employee 10 in the organisation? Organisations that claim to be "flat" will still have this attribute, it's just not on the org chart.
  • Can you actually do what you're there to do? Do you have engineering skills, or financial skills? Nunchuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills?
  • Do people believe you can do your job? When you've been on a project, do folk talk about how good you were to work with? (Note the difference from the above!)
  • It's not what you know, it's who you know. Are you related to the boss? Are you squash / drinking buddies with the director? This is the stuff that engineers believe shouldn't matter, but sadly, it does.
  • Do you bring cash into the organisation? Are you sitting on a fat client that you kiss in the ear and pays ridiculous amounts for some basic service? Are you controlling the revenue generating part of the company?
  • Are you *just right* for the organisation? A nerd at a tech firm? A fashionista at a fashion firm? It might sound like bull, but people take note of whether you fit in or not. People who fit in are expected to go far.

So - bear in mind that it's not just one of these factors, but all of them that you need. Collectively, they describe how much power you have in an organisation. Before you go all Caligula - power is not the end, but a means to an end. You need it to get stuff done.