Office politics doesn't happen because people are scheming. It happens because no one wrote anything down. In the absence of clear ways of working, the preferences of the most powerful people fill the vacuum and suddenly half your attention is spent learning whose attachment format to use rather than doing the actual work.
In this episode, Rodney and Sam dig into one of the most universal and underdiagnosed org patterns: the political operating system. They explore why politics can feel more fun than good process, why "influence without authority" is just pandering with better branding, and how to start replacing implicit norms with something more durable than whoever's in the room at that moment.
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Mentioned references:
00:00 Intro + Check-In: What’s a skill you rarely get to show off?
03:08 The Pattern: We cater to those in power when there’s no org clarity
05:17 Leveraging relationships to do work feels good in the moment
09:12 Discerning what’s best for a leader vs. best for the work
13:11 Experience navigating CEO preference
17:06 Politics is more fun than building a good OS
20:12 Leaders come and go, and take their preferences with them
22:08 Politicking wastes organizational attention
27:00 Short term politics at odds with long term value
31:32 Andrea Robb’s organizing principles
34:23 Leadership politics keeps you from the truth
37:10 Example navigating a leader during an offsite
41:33 Change #1: Don’t depend on only one person
43:55 Change #2: Get a new set of eyes to challenge assumptions
46:34 Change #3: Write. It. Down.
48:44 Wrap up: Leave us a review!
Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of Coupe Studios.
