Sample Video:


An attempt to make sense of a controversial subject.  Begins by defining office politics and identifying what types of activities are political.  Comparisons are made to meritocracy, systematic and advocacy-based forms of decision making.  The discussion then examines whether it is a useful or harmful concept and under which circumstances, including the “self-defense” view.  An examination of why politics is so intractable in human organizations follows.  Specific concepts of political behavior are then covered including political capital, race-to-the-bottom (starting vs following), flattery, cover-ups, secrets, feedback loops, risk aversion, engineered situations, workarounds and “reverse Darwinism.”  Concludes with a variety of real world examples.