4 ms·

I’ve managed to do it so far, the sidelines are always the best place to watch the game.

sleepymoose 4y ago
When viewed from the perspective the author is promoting, wouldn't "sitting out" really just be "not playing the game very well"? I have to say I largely agree with him in this aspect. Unless your self-employeed or work in a very small, extremely tight-knit team, I find it hard to believe you entirely avoid office politics. I say this because while from your perspective, you might be a nonparticipant, from the perspective of your peers who do partake in it, you're just not playing the game very well. They might see your inaction and instead feel that it's a lack of social skill, that you lack passion or concern regarding your work, or that your simply unpleasant to be around. I'm not saying that any of these are the case in your situation. I just beleive the author is on to something here, and that by human nature, all of our social interactions are rooted in personal politics on an indiviudal level (i.e. separate from one's standing on government politics).
- fellowniusmonk 4y ago
  Depending on the circumstances, individual contributors that are good enough can often set their own personal requirements and get them. Setting your own expectations and requiring that they be met isn't playing politics, it's just setting the terms of your employment that you require from your employer. When working for others I'd rather flog myself and deliver bottom line excellence than have to cow tow to some low level managers whims or plans for promotion. I remember a 10x engineer friend of mine (a better engineer and generally smarter person than myself) who when he was younger, on the first day of a new job was gotten onto by some HR exec about how he used the elevator, it was something boring, insignificant and not even wrong (so insignificant I can no longer remember the details) that he was "corrected" on, and in that moment he realized he could ignore HR on almost anything, they weren't going to fire him for some perceived, undocumented, etiquette breach, he's a high value employee.
- namelessoracle 4y ago
  The other scenario is the person "sitting it out" is being viewed as an ally/play piece of someone else who IS playing the game. Other people may even be saying they represent your interests in the games they are playing because you aren't speaking up for yourself. If you aren't using your political capital, other people will use it for you. How often have you heard "X person agrees with me about this" at the office?
AnimalMuppet 4y ago
Those who don't do politics can still have politics done to them. If you've never been in places where that happened to you, that's wonderful, but it's not something you can count on being true for your whole career. On the other hand, a place where politics is not done to you is probably a healthier place, so if that's your current situation, consider well before you move on to another job.

When viewed from the perspective the author is promoting, wouldn't "sitting out" really just be "not playing the game very well"? I have to say I largely agree with him in this aspect. Unless your self-employeed or work in a very small, extremely tight-knit team, I find it hard to believe you entirely avoid office politics. I say this because while from your perspective, you might be a nonparticipant, from the perspective of your peers who do partake in it, you're just not playing the game very well. They might see your inaction and instead feel that it's a lack of social skill, that you lack passion or concern regarding your work, or that your simply unpleasant to be around. I'm not saying that any of these are the case in your situation. I just beleive the author is on to something here, and that by human nature, all of our social interactions are rooted in personal politics on an indiviudal level (i.e. separate from one's standing on government politics).

fellowniusmonk 4y ago
Depending on the circumstances, individual contributors that are good enough can often set their own personal requirements and get them. Setting your own expectations and requiring that they be met isn't playing politics, it's just setting the terms of your employment that you require from your employer. When working for others I'd rather flog myself and deliver bottom line excellence than have to cow tow to some low level managers whims or plans for promotion. I remember a 10x engineer friend of mine (a better engineer and generally smarter person than myself) who when he was younger, on the first day of a new job was gotten onto by some HR exec about how he used the elevator, it was something boring, insignificant and not even wrong (so insignificant I can no longer remember the details) that he was "corrected" on, and in that moment he realized he could ignore HR on almost anything, they weren't going to fire him for some perceived, undocumented, etiquette breach, he's a high value employee.
namelessoracle 4y ago
The other scenario is the person "sitting it out" is being viewed as an ally/play piece of someone else who IS playing the game. Other people may even be saying they represent your interests in the games they are playing because you aren't speaking up for yourself. If you aren't using your political capital, other people will use it for you. How often have you heard "X person agrees with me about this" at the office?

AnimalMuppet 4y ago

Those who don't do politics can still have politics done to them. If you've never been in places where that happened to you, that's wonderful, but it's not something you can count on being true for your whole career. On the other hand, a place where politics is not done to you is probably a healthier place, so if that's your current situation, consider well before you move on to another job.