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PLAY THE GAME

It is hard to argue with this sentiment. Even those who secretly love to play politics will say the same thing. In fact, it is politically correct to say that we hate politics.

But if you really hate politics, if you find politics to be mysterious, unfair, and deceitful, or "who you know", then please read on. While office politics can be driven by the ambitions of the few, they are also about the survival of the many: those who make their living by doing their jobs correctly.

We identify office politics with the bad actors who engage in underhanded tactics and strategies to gain an advantage, control, or recognition in the workplace.

This book is for the good guys, the "whitehats", the type of people who tell me right away that they have no interest in playing politics.

School acknowledges hard work through recognition, yet the professional world may not always regard achievement as highly as academic institutions claim to—these, too, have their own share of politics.

The workplace is not a meritocracy, it operates differently; it values competence in theory, but that takes second place to political survival.

Does that sound grim? It doesn't have to. Imagine it as a game that anyone can learn to play. We cannot win every battle, but mastering the game brings us a sense of control over our professional lives.

Politics is a timeless game in which we are all participants, an inevitable element of human nature and society, and especially in hierarchical organizations.

Many whitehats thrive without playing politics. There is a natural bias towards people who are tall, attractive, and well dressed, or with a certain accent, gender, or race. Unfortunately, these entitled individuals often let their whitehat egos manifest, becoming tormentors or tyrant bosses of other whitehats and unwittingly create a toxic environment; in short, they are the "asshats".

No matter how well we are doing, whether we are the boss or not, we could be doing better by playing the game… much better!

"Doing better" is, of course, a subjective term — whether it's more income, flexible work conditions, autonomy, technical achievement, or career advancement. All whitehats, however, deserve something that will not be provided by management or as part of an employment contract: job satisfaction.

This is something that we must achieve for ourselves. Whether job satisfaction is the freedom to do a good job, helping others to succeed, or contributing to the company's welfare, playing the game helps us to achieve it.

Every action we take in the workplace sends unspoken messages about our political attitudes and abilities. It is these "political messages" that shape the future of the company and, more importantly, our careers — we cannot actualize our true potential without actively shaping that narrative.

If we are one of the "I just keep my head down and do a good job" people, we are already sending out political messages:

Entering our first (real) job, we can be very optimistic about contributing and excelling. After a while, however, the harsh reality becomes apparent. There are unseen forces at play that we don't understand, and that seem to hinder efficiency while our own efforts can go unrecognized. We might not receive credit for our hard work, we do not receive the promotions and raises that we deserve, and we feel invisible to upper management.

Sometimes, it can feel like an evil conspiracy. While an actual conspiracy is unlikely, an informal network does exist, enabling certain individuals to align their efforts towards shared objectives.

Many whitehats get quite upset when they hear this: it defies everything society has told us about success in the workplace. We have made significant investments in our skillsets, so how can competence be so unimportant?

We all know of employees and managers who appear inept, lacking understanding of their team's work, making questionable decisions, yet still seem to enjoy respect, promotions, and raises from upper management.

Such individuals epitomize "blackhats". They are living proof of the first rule of the game by surviving just fine in a corporate environment without actually being good at their jobs.

In contrast, as whitehats, we can be too good at our jobs, and get locked into our positions. Many whitehats are happy to achieve "tenure": they are perfectly content in their current position and consider themselves indispensable so they can't be fired (or so they think).

On the other hand, some whitehats are more adventurous and would like to learn new skills, advance their positions, and earn more money.

Valerie innocently believed that she was a worthy candidate to be team leader, not realizing that Charles had already decided who would be promoted to the position before he even interviewed her. She did not know how to play the game, but at last she decided to learn.

If we find ourselves in this type of predicament, then we need to fix the problem. But let's be clear: we are not the problem; "playing the game" is not about changing our personalities and becoming political robots. Disingenuous tactics to "get ahead" can be emulated by others, especially blackhats, until we are all in a race to the bottom that can only result in a cold and sterile (and very fake) work environment.

Playing politics is a "soft skill" similar to communication skills, interpersonal skills, good presentation, etc. Paradoxically, this important soft skill is not discussed openly; there are no questions in interviews regarding political aptitude. Yet it is a skill that we can demonstrate effectively from the very first point of contact with potential employers. And it is one that is particularly important to management when considering us for advancement within the company.

The good news is that, as whitehats, we are well equipped to play the game. It is simply another competency that we can acquire. And it is precisely because we are good at our jobs that, if we play the game as well, we effectively hold all the cards.

Jennifer was trapped in a hostile environment but resolved to make the best of it. Her blackhat boss was apparently trying to make life so miserable that Julie would be forced to leave her position. But even if Julie had other employment opportunities, there is no guarantee that she would not end up in similar circumstances.

Learning the art of managing blackhats is a life skill that follows us wherever we go; the more impossible the adversity, the better for learning how to cope with them.

Blackhats are not even the biggest problem (aside from draining the company of a salary). Because they only ever play the game and their predominant motive is to serve themselves, blackhats are wonderfully predictable. When we learn to play the game effectively and consistently, blackhats will steer clear of us (even our blackhat bosses).

No, our main difficulty is often those unpredictable, self-righteous, outraged, uncompromising or otherwise unprofessional people: other whitehats!

Alex's company was a whitehat organization, and his boss John was no blackhat. And yet, politics were still at play, even if Alex did not understand why. Even in smaller whitehat companies, politics can be magnified by the close relationship between the employees and management.

We whitehats typically start off our careers completely ignoring politics, believing that our superior skills and talent are all that is required to succeed. Instead of forming political alliances, we try to compete with one another to be the "most competent". This includes pointing out every little mistake (real or perceived) and can result in bruised egos and grudges.

In effect, we tend to use our competence as a blunt weapon, hitting everyone over the head with it.

But politics should be our weapon, and our technical competence just a part of our strategy.

No real accomplishments or changes can be made in modern organizations unless we win the political battles. The fact that we happen to know what we are doing, and that our initiatives tend to be successful, is just the icing on the cake.

We may be able to impose our good ideas on the company, but unless we gain political consensus and support first, we will not receive any real credit for them. Whitehats may appreciate our good works, but they are often trying to compete with us technically, so according to them anything we can accomplish is "easy" and imperfect. Blackhats, on the other hand, are gunning for us politically: to them, anything that we might do to "look good" makes them "look bad".

The Game

If office politics are a problem at work, then playing the game is our plan for resolution.

This analogy to a game emphasizes strategic thinking. Much like a game of chess, it is the small and calculated opening moves that often decide the outcome. Then we can just sit back and watch our strategies unfold. This is why many whitehats find politics enigmatic and frustrating: by the time we get into the tactics of the middle-game, the game is already over!

Viewing office politics as a game is vital to our well-being and mental health. While the stakes—like pay, prestige, or job security—are real, adopting a gaming mindset lets us expect to win some points and lose others, without taking things too personally. Above all, we never accept defeat until the last move.

The key is to avoid becoming overly emotionally invested and to approach the game cool-headedly.

Game theory assumes that players are rational, meaning they will make decisions that maximize their own payoff, given their knowledge of other players' actions and payoffs. However, whitehat and blackhat payoffs are very different. The Whitehat Politics analogy provides a structured way to analyze strategic situations and predict outcomes based on the expected behavior by all players to achieve their goals.

To master the game, one must comprehend the motivations of every player, whitehats and blackhats alike, as well as the behavior these motives incite. It's equally important to examine our own motives, goals, and behavior, and to challenge any misconceptions or illusions about our role in the workplace.

Becoming aware of the political ramifications of our actions naturally propels us into the game. We don't have to turn into inauthentic phonies: rather, we can subtly adjust our political behavior to accommodate these, sometimes conflicting, motives to achieve both our personal goals and those of others.

Most importantly, we should remain true to ourselves and our values. Our own self-respect and dignity should always take priority over playing politics.

However unappealing it seems to navigate workplace politics, and the energy we invest to do so, the alternative is worse. Whitehats can easily become disillusioned with the workplace and worn down by "the system". When we lose faith, we can become cynical, and this is exactly what blackhats want: it is part of their strategy to exploit us and our good work.

If playing the game feels like stooping to their level, then at least it makes a level playing field. It's all too common for principled whitehats to be outmaneuvered by blackhat schemes and tactics. Yet nothing surprises a blackhat more than a whitehat who turns out to be a player.

It is not our intent to manipulate and dominate people; whitehat politics is about redefining our own mindsets and attitudes. It is a path that any whitehat can follow and, with practice, become a grandmaster.

By playing the game, we gain "political capital". Winning political points boosts our reputation within the organization and we find our voice to protect our positions and to implement our initiatives. This creates a positive feedback loop: as our influence grows, the better we can play the game.

With time, we can reverse the political messages we are broadcasting to the world and transform how we are perceived:

The first step, however, is to accept that it is a game and commit to playing it the best we can.

The great thing about the whitehat game is that the same principles apply to any color hat. When we play whitehat politics, both blackhats and whitehats will let us get on with what we do best: our jobs.

NEXT: Chapter 2 "Political Messages"