It's Ethical and Normal to Play Politics
It's every executive's job to make perception match reality. Engineering needs to stop being the exception.
The bargaining power of software engineers is waning. In 2024, we’re less concerned about amassing talent, but rather streamlined, ‘rightsized’ teams.
I wrote about how we got here, and why this means that engineering leaders need to own their narratives if they want to protect their organizations. It inspired a lot of thoughtful debate, but there was one thing that stood out:
Many engineering leaders don’t realize that making perception match reality is their job.
There are a few underlying myths that drive this:
Myth #1: A leader’s main job is to ensure delivery, not politicking
Myth #2: Politics is an affect, not a practical skill you can learn
Myth #3: Playing politics is slimy and deceitful
Rather then debunking line by line, let’s break down a real-world, practical example of what a typical, non-technical executive might do. Then, let’s contrast that with what usually happens in engineering.
Politics in Practice
Imagine a CMO, whose team is about to launch a massive new campaign. It targets a new customer segment and will likely take their brand in a radically different direction. Ahead of launch, this CMO spends months shaping narratives and managing perception. They book multiple 1:1s with sales leaders to build rapport and trust. They make it clear to the board and the CEO and anyone who matters that what they’re doing is a big fucking deal.
Along the way, they’ll continuously evangelize their narrative - emphasizing the promised land on the other side of it all. The CMO understands that it’s their job to make sure that everyone not only gets it, but feels like they are a part of the effort along the way.
In doing so, they’re not only making their other teams feel included, they’re maximizing their likelihood of success. A fearful sales rep will not unlock the full potential of the new markets they are trying to reach. A skittish board will pull the plug too early, before results can be assessed.
Keeping everyone onboard and pulling in the same direction is just as important as the marketing effort itself.
In doing this, they achieve something else extraordinary: the holy grail of simultaneously minimizing downside risk while maximizing upside.
If they fail, their proactive communication and strong interpersonal relationships will at least keep trust intact. It’s seen and felt as a team effort that was done in good faith - “marketing” didn’t fail; this initiative did. Everyone can reflect and move on.
If they win, the hard work of the entire marketing team is recognized. This wasn’t business as usual: it was a big fucking deal and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. The team deserves to hear the applause, and thanks to the efforts of their CMO, they do.
Meanwhile, in engineering…
Contrast this to what happens in engineering. A huge refactor of the backend is needed in order for the company to scale. Engineering pushes for this work, and as soon as it’s green lit, the team starts to hunker down.
But…the CTO doesn’t build bridges with stakeholders that might be impacted - ex: when it rolls out, is customer support prepared to handle potential issues? The team might take painstaking efforts to minimize risk, but they don’t really communicate the stakes. Most stakeholders remain in the dark about the fact that a refactor of this scale is a big fucking deal and likely to cause at least some disruption.
This lack of evangelism means that, after just a few short weeks, people have forgotten why they’re doing it at all. Stakeholders continue to make demands on the engineering team. Product is successful at pushing back on some of these asks, but distractions inevitably arise. They slowly but surely chip away at engineering’s timeline, morale, and likelihood of success.
And the later this project runs, the worse things get. Absent consistent perception management, this essential work is now seen as engineering’s pet project. Worse still, it’s seen as a pet project getting in the way of work that actually needs to be done.
The CTO doesn’t see it as their job to correct this perception. Instead, they get frustrated - why can’t they see how important this work is?
At this point, the downside risk is a bottomless pit. If something big breaks, it’s an unmitigated disaster. From the perspective of stakeholders, the engineering team - working on ‘engineering stuff’ (wait…why were they doing this again?) - broke essential business operations in their carelessness, incompetence, and poor judgement.
Any upside is also erased. Even in the best case scenario - where everything is delivered on time with no customer impact - no one cares. The categorically phenomenal job the team just isn’t seen that way.
After all, isn’t it table stakes to get your work done without breaking stuff?
The rest of the business has no idea of the meticulous planning, work, and skill required to get a overhaul of this scale over the finish line. They never had the context to understand that, even with every precaution, these kinds of changes often cause some kind of disruption. Because of this, they can’t appreciate the work of the engineering team - it’s seen as boring, business-as-usual operations.
Does this feel familiar?
This kind of thing happens in small ways every single day day. How often do you see non-technical stakeholders yawn through “the engineering stuff” in sprint retros?
If you’re an IC and this rings true, demand more of your leadership. Not only do you deserve better, your career may depend on it. Increasingly, the stakes are no longer missed promotions and hurt feelings, but your actual job.
If you’re a CTO and this rings true, take a moment, step back, and take this in full. Your team’s work is invisible. People yawn through some of the most important initiatives. They don’t see their hard work, wins, and effort. Your negligence is putting their careers and livelihoods at risk.
You have the privilege of being entrusted to lead and speak for others. As uncomfortable as it might be, compare you own actions against our hypothetical CMO. Let this discomfort sink in so that the urge to act and grow can take root.
Playing politics is essential if you want to ensure that the hard work of your team is both accurately represented and rewarded.
It’s not a rare talent given to the privileged few, but learnable, tactical skills. It’s not dirty. It’s not wrong.
And, most importantly, it’s your job.
This is daunting, and engineering orgs face particularly difficult challenges. Over the next few weeks we’ll be doing a series on how engineering leaders can take practical steps of managing perception, crafting narratives, and getting their teams credit. Subscribe for the latest.
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