My Thoughts
Why Office Politics Isn't Actually Politics (And How to Win Without Losing Your Soul)
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The water cooler conversation stopped dead when I walked past. Three colleagues suddenly became very interested in their shoes. That's when I knew I'd become that person - the one who doesn't play office politics.
Big mistake.
For seventeen years, I've been consulting to businesses across Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, and I've watched careers derail faster than a V8 Supercar hitting a kangaroo. Not because people weren't good at their jobs. Because they were crap at handling office politics.
Here's the thing that'll ruffle some feathers: avoiding office politics isn't noble. It's career suicide.
The Myth of the Politics-Free Workplace
Back in 2019, I was working with a tech startup in Surry Hills. Brilliant engineers, innovative products, and a CEO who genuinely believed they'd created a "politics-free zone."
What actually happened? The loudest voices got promoted while the introverted genius who'd single-handedly built their core algorithm got passed over. Again.
Politics isn't about scheming and backstabbing - though that happens too. It's about influence, relationships, and understanding how decisions really get made. According to my completely unscientific but absolutely accurate observations, 83% of workplace decisions happen in informal conversations, not in official meetings.
The Three Types of Office Politicians (And Why You Need to Recognise Them)
The Puppetmaster: Usually middle management. Knows everyone's business, remembers birthdays, and somehow always ends up in the room where decisions happen. Not necessarily malicious, just strategically social.
The Bulldozer: Takes credit loudly, assigns blame quietly. Probably wearing expensive shoes and definitely interrupting people in meetings. These are the ones who give office politics a bad name.
The Invisible Influencer: The person everyone goes to for advice. Might be a receptionist, might be the IT manager. Has zero formal authority but massive informal power.
Most people spot the Bulldozers but miss the other two entirely. That's why they get blindsided when their "obvious" promotion goes to someone else.
I learned this the hard way when I ignored the office manager at a financial services firm in Collins Street. Thought she was just admin support. Turns out she'd been with the company for fifteen years and had the MD's ear on every major personnel decision.
Whoops.
Why Your MBA Didn't Prepare You for This
Business schools teach you about organisational charts and reporting structures. They don't teach you that the real org chart looks nothing like the official one.
The person who really runs things might be someone's executive assistant. Or the head of facilities. Or that bloke from accounting who somehow knows everything about everyone.
Traditional management theory assumes rational decision-making. But humans aren't rational. We're emotional, tribal creatures who make decisions based on relationships and gut feelings, then justify them with spreadsheets afterward.
This isn't cynical. It's human nature.
The Navigation Rules That Actually Work
Rule 1: Map the Real Power Structure
Forget the official hierarchy. Watch where people go for information. Notice who gets their emails answered first. Pay attention to who speaks last in meetings (that's usually where the real authority sits).
At one client site in Perth, the facilities manager turned out to be the CEO's former business partner. Guess whose opinions carried weight on everything from office relocations to vendor selection?
Rule 2: Build Relationships Before You Need Them
The time to start networking isn't when you want something. It's three months before you even know you'll want something.
Coffee conversations. Genuine interest in people's projects. Remembering details about their kids or hobbies. Basic human connection stuff that somehow becomes "politics" in a workplace context.
Rule 3: Information is Currency
Not gossip - that's different. But knowing what's happening across departments, understanding strategic priorities, being aware of budget cycles and decision timelines.
The people who get promoted aren't necessarily the smartest or hardest working. They're the ones who understand what matters to the people making decisions.
Rule 4: Pick Your Battles (And Your Allies)
You can't stay neutral on everything. But you can choose which hills you're willing to die on.
I once watched a talented project manager torpedo her career by publicly disagreeing with a VP about something completely trivial - meeting room booking procedures. She was right. She was also unemployed three months later.
Meanwhile, her colleague who'd quietly built relationships across multiple departments got promoted into the role she'd wanted.
Life isn't fair. But politics is about working within the system that exists, not the one you wish existed.
The Dark Side Everyone Ignores
Here's what the leadership gurus won't tell you: sometimes good people get screwed over by office politics. Sometimes the wrong person gets promoted. Sometimes talent isn't enough.
I've seen brilliant analysts stuck in dead-end roles while smooth talkers climb the corporate ladder. It's frustrating as hell, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
But here's the thing - you can acknowledge the system is imperfect while still learning to work within it. You can build genuine relationships without being manipulative. You can be political without being a politician.
The alternative is watching your career stagnate while wondering why nobody "recognises your value."
What This Looks Like in Practice
Start paying attention to who influences whom. Not who reports to whom - who actually influences decisions.
Join the right committees. Not because you love committee work (nobody does), but because that's where relationships form and information flows.
Share credit generously. Help others succeed. Make other people look good, and they'll remember when promotion discussions happen.
Learn the business beyond your job description. Understand how your work connects to revenue, customer satisfaction, and strategic goals.
And yes, sometimes this means small talk about weekend plans and remembering that Karen from HR has a son playing rugby.
Is it fair that success depends on more than just doing good work? Probably not.
Is it reality? Absolutely.
The companies that get this right - like Atlassian here in Sydney - create cultures where relationships and results both matter. Where politics means collaboration rather than competition.
The ones that get it wrong? Well, they're usually the ones calling me to figure out why their best people keep leaving.
The Bottom Line
Office politics isn't going anywhere. It's not a bug in the system - it's a feature of human organisations.
You can choose to engage thoughtfully and authentically, or you can choose to be managed by forces you don't understand.
But you can't choose to opt out entirely. Not if you want your career to progress beyond "competent individual contributor."
The water cooler conversations will happen with or without you.
Your choice is whether you're in the room where it happens.
Further Reading: