You have to be careful with throwing people under the bus because if it's noticed by people..going to be honest, they are not going to trust you and word will g

You have to be careful with throwing people under the bus because if it's noticed by people..going to be honest, they are not going to trust you and word will get around. You become that snake to avoid, you're dangerous to work with. So, hopefully you do it in a way where it can't come back to you. At the org I work at, if you're seen doing this, you're not a team player and you get an unofficial mark against you. People will generally look up to people who take responsibility. Regular smoozing I think is not too hard and you're just being sociable. If you feel you need to play politics, get with good team and play politics in concert. My department has made a lot of good progress just by providing a united front and influencing together. It doesn't even have to be a bad thing.