As a junior engineer, what the best way to learn about and master the political game? I feel like it all goes way over my head. Does anyone have any recommended reading?
If you start that from day 1 you'd be 2 years ahead of the author.
Honestly, it sounds like a really shitty way to live. I personally prefer doing great work and having faith that it will work out.
It has, a lot slower than that, but I'm proud of the work I've done and enjoy my work daily.
Of course, this only works if you have managers you feel like you can trust and respect in the first place.
But that doesn't mean you should be consistently selfless all the time. If you think the projects you are working on aren't going to get you promoted, discuss it with your manager. Tell them some of your thoughts, and if they aren't amenable to giving you other work, consider moving to a different part of the organization.
- Your impact on revenue (if you work in ads)
- Your impact on search quality (as assesed by independent raters)
- Etc.
My advice would be to try to come up with your own project ideas (related to what your or other very close team is already working on). Often times, people stick around in their teams for a long time and there is not much inovation -- you are a new guy can bring some fresh perspective.
People who get promoted the fastest are usually those who are self driven and start projects from their own initiative.
For example, if you see a problem, you should socialize a solution to that problem. If the feedback you get is "Yes, this is a problem, and that solution would be valuable", then go for it. Of the feedback is more meh in nature, then either convince people it is valuable or move on to something else.
Be organized in this process, write RFCs and design docs, document your conclusions. Then when it comes time to discuss impact, you will know (and can demonstrate) that you worked on impactful things.
Focus on demonstrable, measurable impact for your company's customers in the area that your team focuses on. If you do that, then you'll find that you're aligned with your boss and your boss's boss pretty much all the time.
You can argue for what you believe when you have data to back you up. If not, respect the judgment of your superiors. Figure out what your management chain wants to accomplish and then find the best measurable way to accomplish it. If you don't know. Ask.
Remember that the game is a long game. Software Development is unusual because many people expect to be "senior" 3-5 years out of college. In other fields, that will barely get you out of an apprenticeship.
I think about it this way:
1. Not all effort is equally valuable.
2. Not all value is equally visible/measureable
3. Not all value is equally aligned with your team/company's priorities
Find what efforts produce the most value that can be measured, in alignment with your company's priorities.
Usually when engineers feel like they have to "play the political game", they fall into one of these traps:
1. They are doing work that isn't actually valuable (e.g. an unprompted huge refactoring)
2. They are doing valuable work that is hard to measure (e.g. adding tests to a codebase without a plan to demonstrate improved developer velocity and/or product quality)
3. They are doing valuable, measurable work towards the wrong goals (e.g. building product-wide localization support without the company intending to localize their content)
The issue in Michael's case is not politics, and I don't know how HN gets on this stupid tangent about the "political game."
The issue--speaking as a Big Company engineer/manager--is quite obviously misalignment, either between Michael and his manager or between his manager and the committee.
If you don't know what your manager thinks is important or disagree with it, you have a problem. (Possible solutions: ask, argue, switch teams.) If your manager's priorities don't match the org's, you may also have a problem (depending on your manager's ability to protect you). (Again, possible solutions: discuss with your manager, discuss with your skip, move.)
The idea that there's a "political game" that you can play to get ahead is, mostly, belied by my experiences. It's probably true in some places some of the time, but it's unclear to me that it yields better results (faster promotion, greater happiness) than being smart and motivated.
My advice would be to just try to keep people happy, primarily your manager and your manager's manager. Some people are saying to focus on metrics that make you look good, and that might work at some places, but it won't mean people enjoy working with you.
My advice? Be honest, don't be scared to admit when you're at fault, solve problems, help people when you can. Networking is great, but don't be the guy who only BSes and doesn't get things done. You need to be someone people like to work with. If someone needs to send someone else to you for whatever reason and they say "Go check with popcat, he's awesome and knows this really well", that person is going to see you in a positive light from the get-go. Reputation is more valuable than any metrics can be.
Also, communicate with your manager often. Suggest improvements, mention problems, and ask for advice. Put yourself in their shoes - What you you want them to tell you if you we're the boss? Listen to podcasts like Manager Tools if you want to gain knowledge of large companies operate. It will be a huge help when trying to land a big raise or promotion.
Once you have experience as a manager you'll appreciate how great it is having a"can do" person like this on your team.
This is a philosophy you can wear comfortably too, as it's not based on sucking up.
If you have a decent boss, they'll make sure you share in the glory.
If you haven't, you'll need to move on to some of the darker arts.
Next thing you need to know is the rules of the game in YOUR organisation. Every company is different and the rules are different. Google is unique, so at other companies the game is very different.
Then you need to move the needle on whatever matters. That might be improving metrics, that might mean becoming drinking buddies with the right people, it might be purposefully going to work for a failing team so you can be given the chance to take it over and prove yourself.
A lot of the book is simply explaining Psychology of people trying to gain power or in power what you need to do so you can manage politics. Things like not making your boss look lesser than you or not realizing that, yes, everyone has their place and you can't just say whatever you want AND ALSO get whatever you want. For a lot of people this needs to be explained and proven and the stories in that book provide good, if not a bit hard to relate, examples of the laws.
(Reading the book now on Audible. Pretty interesting, but the parent is totally right that it advocates a pretty dark/negative world view.)
My favorite book by him is The Art of Seduction, because it chronicles human motive in its most direct, unfiltered form. All influence is really thinly-veiled seduction.
To the grandparent, because I'm throttled on HN and probably won't be allowed to post much more, if this even goes through: the key to a successful career is the same as any other interpersonal success. Learn psychology and influence. Understand how other people see the world. However you see it, it's not how most other people see it. Resist the temptation to assume that your assumptions and defaults are valid for others.
You have to accept the existence of the game to really have success, but you don't necessarily have to embrace it. Indeed, many successful entrepreneurs are successful entrepreneurs because their personal tolerance for the game is sufficient to make sales, but not sufficient to suck up to a cadre of bosses for years on end.
Whatever you do, you will not be reasonably free until you get a baseline of "fuck you" money established and invested in a diverse set of safe, reliable instruments and institutions. Once this happens, take heed not to become too ostentatious and comfortable, or you will become Martin Shkreli; someone who didn't do anything actually wrong, but allowed himself to become the subject of the public's contempt. It is probably best to keep a low profile and live an unassuming lifestyle, grateful to be one of the few with freedom.
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P.S., tried to post, and yep, throttled. I can't post for some more time now; this is because I was politically imprudent and criticized YC darlings, including some companies they've invested in, on HN. I will save this and repost later.
Egalitarian facades from BigCo or PowerfulPerson are just that: a facade. And the people in power, no matter where their power lies, will be happy and cooperative as long as your conduct is biasing people in a direction that is favorable for them. But never expect them to sit idly by while you threaten or criticize them, even if the ultimate impact is small or indirect. They know that big collapses start out as small cracks, and they proactively and subtly work to stop these.
Never mistake the cooperation, praise, or accolades of a group or establishment as representing anything other than their satisfaction that your conduct is helpful to them in the immediate moment. One of the most common and simultaneously most fatal mistakes I see is the assumption that satisfaction with one's conduct is implicit or automatic. That past positive responses guarantee future positive responses. The truth is, no one cares about you personally. They like your thing because it gave them what they wanted. If you disregard that for your next thing, they will have no qualms whatsoever about dismissing or disregarding you.
Human response is a "hits business"; there is a formula that makes people happy. Meet that formula, and you will be rewarded. Deviate, and you won't. It is fickle, timing is important. Music, movies, and video games are all optimized "hits" businesses with billions of dollars at stake, and even they have misses more often than not.
Everyone is irrevocably and intrinsically self-interested, as a biologically-dictated matter of individual survival. Do not expect anything else. Do not try to fight this -- you can't. You cannot undo the eons of evolution that have dictated it. Good system design understands and incorporates this unchangeable reality by triggering psychological phenomena that are biologically interpreted as pro-survival when they're acting in concert with the system, and not doing so when they aren't.
Please note that despite the acknowledgment of this reality, this is not necessarily a nihilistic or pessimistic worldview. These things are not automatically bad. They are just components of the human psychological system that enables our survival. They can be used or abused, for good or for evil.
An insistence on remaining ignorant of human action and motive based on the religious tenet that "people are nice" only leaves one liable to more manipulation. That is exactly what the worst, most ravenous predators want, because it allows them to operate virtually undetected. All the better if they can get the duped to engage in a hostile charge against those who are finding enlightenment (and they usually can).
Anyone who wants to operate effectively within the system must know and understand it. Don't shy away from this reality. Accept it and use it for good. We have way too many timid people who have been programmed to take what they're given and shut up, and not to inquire into how the system works. It doesn't have to be that way.