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You do have to admire the staggering idealism of suggesting that office politics could be fixed by turning it into real politics, though. ;)

lifeisstillgood 4y ago
You cannot fix it but you can at least stop pretending and make it transparent :-(
- zdragnar 4y ago
  In this case, it is made more transparent by amplifying all of the worst aspects of it.
- q7xvh97o2pDhNrh 4y ago
  So, I know my initial comment above was pretty snarky. My follow-up reply here will probably sound a bit argumentative. For what it's worth, I mean to engage genuinely in the below comment, and try to offer a little bit of whatever wisdom I've managed to acquire -- so that maybe your :-( can turn into a :-) as you engage with office politics. I would put to you that it already is quite transparent -- to folks who know how to speak the language. Look closely at who is speaking, what is being said, and (perhaps most importantly) what isn't being said. Power in a corporation is measured in information and resources. So, a simple definition of office politics could be: the art of influencing the flow of information and resources. If it doesn't feel transparent, the most obvious causes are (in rough dependency order): not being in the right rooms, not knowing what to listen for, or not knowing how to talk the talk. Can I ask if this definition or mini-framework resonates for you? What have you tried to make things more transparent for yourself? How has it gone so far?
  - lifeisstillgood 4y ago
    But that same argument was made in the real world of politics - I expect both Cardinal Richelieu and Talleyrand have quotations on it. The point is not that there is a framework that advantages certain people (usually just being in the room requires certain advantages from birth) but that we should get rid of the framework and replace it with a new fairer one. I have been in the rooms - and the people in them are not as smart as inciteful or as informed as many outside. We can do much better. I will keep my idealism as it warms me during the long dark winter of selfishness

lifeisstillgood 4y ago

You cannot fix it but you can at least stop pretending and make it transparent :-(

zdragnar 4y ago
In this case, it is made more transparent by amplifying all of the worst aspects of it.
q7xvh97o2pDhNrh 4y ago
So, I know my initial comment above was pretty snarky. My follow-up reply here will probably sound a bit argumentative. For what it's worth, I mean to engage genuinely in the below comment, and try to offer a little bit of whatever wisdom I've managed to acquire -- so that maybe your :-( can turn into a :-) as you engage with office politics. I would put to you that it already is quite transparent -- to folks who know how to speak the language. Look closely at who is speaking, what is being said, and (perhaps most importantly) what isn't being said. Power in a corporation is measured in information and resources. So, a simple definition of office politics could be: the art of influencing the flow of information and resources. If it doesn't feel transparent, the most obvious causes are (in rough dependency order): not being in the right rooms, not knowing what to listen for, or not knowing how to talk the talk. Can I ask if this definition or mini-framework resonates for you? What have you tried to make things more transparent for yourself? How has it gone so far?
- lifeisstillgood 4y ago
  But that same argument was made in the real world of politics - I expect both Cardinal Richelieu and Talleyrand have quotations on it. The point is not that there is a framework that advantages certain people (usually just being in the room requires certain advantages from birth) but that we should get rid of the framework and replace it with a new fairer one. I have been in the rooms - and the people in them are not as smart as inciteful or as informed as many outside. We can do much better. I will keep my idealism as it warms me during the long dark winter of selfishness