Politics is what happens in subjective situations where people are wrestling for resources. How many budget requests are absolutely objective and easy decisions to make? Truth be told, in a high functioning company, there shouldn't be many. But politics absolutely comes into play when you have the fuzzy.
Is Google+ a better product objectively than Buzz? I have no idea. How do you even make that decision when the project is in its infancy?
Consider John and Katy. Assume that Katy does her job, pushes her code and gets her shit done. John comes in, is a superstar gunslinger. He keeps an eye out for upper management beliefs, quickly prototypes them. Shows a bunch of flashy shit to them. YET, that is all they are. Flashy shit with rotten code. It is the job of the Katy to come and work and write good fucking code. However, both Katy and John are essential for a good organization. They should be ranked by completely different metrics depending on the needs of the organization at that time. In reality, you have managers who have a complex trade-off to make between the short term and long term. This is a situation ripe for jockeying. Politics definitely comes into the picture.
I haven't seen an organization where a power structure doesn't exist. It always does.
Politics is what happens in subjective situations where people are wrestling for resources. How many budget requests are absolutely objective and easy decisions to make? Truth be told, in a high functioning company, there shouldn't be many. But politics absolutely comes into play when you have the fuzzy.
Is Google+ a better product objectively than Buzz? I have no idea. How do you even make that decision when the project is in its infancy?
Consider John and Katy. Assume that Katy does her job, pushes her code and gets her shit done. John comes in, is a superstar gunslinger. He keeps an eye out for upper management beliefs, quickly prototypes them. Shows a bunch of flashy shit to them. YET, that is all they are. Flashy shit with rotten code. It is the job of the Katy to come and work and write good fucking code. However, both Katy and John are essential for a good organization. They should be ranked by completely different metrics depending on the needs of the organization at that time. In reality, you have managers who have a complex trade-off to make between the short term and long term. This is a situation ripe for jockeying. Politics definitely comes into the picture.
I haven't seen an organization where a power structure doesn't exist. It always does.