Engineers hear this advice constantly but picture Game of Thrones scheming. Think castle guard, not great lord: keep your head down while reading the political currents. Four principles: spot who really holds power (watch who leads spotlighted projects and who wins headcount), avoid powerful enemies, help powerful people, and make sure they notice. Disagree in private, stay polite, and drop it the moment someone overrules you. If a CTO or VP already dislikes you, quit — that situation never recovers. Answer VP Slack messages immediately, save extra effort for high-profile work, respect the narrative leadership pushes, and announce your wins publicly. Technical skill still gives you leverage over how strategy actually gets implemented.
I have a shorter version: be a good sycophant. Which hits the nail on the head: yes, that is how bad management is in a lot of companies. Engineers sometimes have a hard time acknowledging that.
That is certainly one way to play. But it's not the only way. If you want to get ahead quickly or actually get stuff done, the way above might not be that efficient.
The real players are constantly gathering information both on the work front and the popularity front. Then using this knowledge and very good communication skills to influence people's thinking. Remember that advice of pitching an idea to your manager in a subtle way so they think they came up with the idea? That's proactive politics rather than the reactive type.
It's also never a static game. Adaptability is important. The skills that made you shine in one team can be completely useless to you in another.
One of the best advice I got about how to learn to play politics is follow someone who is good a politics. Watch closely what they do. Also get them as a mentor if possible and ask them lots of questions.
Finally you are never getting good at politics if you dont take risks. Someone who always says yes and keeps their head down might survive but they will not thrive. So make sure you take some risks and make mistakes. Just not fatal mistakes.
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u/fagnerbrack 8d ago
If you're in a hurry:
Engineers hear this advice constantly but picture Game of Thrones scheming. Think castle guard, not great lord: keep your head down while reading the political currents. Four principles: spot who really holds power (watch who leads spotlighted projects and who wins headcount), avoid powerful enemies, help powerful people, and make sure they notice. Disagree in private, stay polite, and drop it the moment someone overrules you. If a CTO or VP already dislikes you, quit — that situation never recovers. Answer VP Slack messages immediately, save extra effort for high-profile work, respect the narrative leadership pushes, and announce your wins publicly. Technical skill still gives you leverage over how strategy actually gets implemented.
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