One fish says to the other fish: how's the water? He replies: what's water? Politics is just people, and people's perception of you. It's talking to folks to e

One fish says to the other fish: how's the water? He replies: what's water? Politics is just people, and people's perception of you. It's talking to folks to effect change, ideally a positive change. It's when you sit down with someone to review their code and suggest a different way. It's when you discuss someone's strengths with their boss so they can get better work. It's when you email someone to make sure they saw your merge request so you can get it done faster. It's literally the people side of a business, and knowing who to ask for what, how to ask, and so on. When someone gets all Machiavelli with those relationships, making sure the right people know what they're working on, or trying to get inside information on upcoming projects, or etc, and then used that to their own advantage then we suddenly call it politics. But that's just shitty people playing politics primarily. Work relationships and lines of power and communication are not optional. They exist. What you do with them does not determine if you are in a political game or not, it just determines how you play it. TFA probably was read to say "You have to be Machiavellian". I think it's fair to say that's an over statement. But pretending or purporting to be antipolitical is an oxymoron. To whom are you pretending? A straightforward a-political style request or response must still define a relationship style.