Political Pitfalls

Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering [PMSE] by Bruce F. Webster

Copyright 1995, 2007 by Bruce F. Webster. All rights reserved.

Version 0.10 — Last update: 06/18/07

[Back to Conceptual Pitfalls] [up to Part I] [Forward to XXX]

…there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries…and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it.
—Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

Political pitfalls are perhaps the most treacherous, because they have little to do with skill, technology, or the worthwhile nature of a given project. Instead, they have to do with credit, blame, power, control, promotion, personalities, gossip, image, past slights, called favors, sabotage, championing, and tradition. Developers and other technical types are prone to blunder into political pitfalls because developers like to think of themselves as rational technocrats and assume that others will think as they do and be motivated as they are.

At the same time, it is a common error on the part of upper management to think that developers and other technical types are naive or ignorant about organizational politics. Developers are often very astute and aware of politics, but they find it disgusting and destructive (rightfully so) and tend to dismiss it as not worth considering (wrongly so). This tends to play into the hands of upper management, who feel that they have everything well in hand. They don’t realize the real danger they face from a group of ticked-off developers who decide to “hack” politics: that is, to use (and abuse) organizational politics to achieve an end. Many mid-level managers (and some high-level ones) have found their power base eroded and have even found themselves out of a job because of developer sabotage or rebellion, whether overt or covert.

The point is that organizational politics does exist, it is significant, and it can be ignored only at the peril of your project and possibly your job. The pitfalls listed here are those you are most likely to fall into when attempting to initiate or promote the use of object-oriented development within your organization.

Pitfalls for this chapter:

wp_list_pages("title_li=&child_of=".$post->ID.”&show_date=modified
&date_format=$date_format”); ?>

Conclusion

The term politics, like politician, has gained a patina—maybe a crust—of oil and mud. The very term carries a reek of manipulation, dissembling, power seeking, battle lines, patronage, and self-aggrandizement at the expense of others. I suspect that more companies falter and fail due to the consequences of internal politics than for any other reason.

But the obverse of that coin has writ on it leadership, consensus building, mutual loyalty, team spirit, and self-sacrifice for the common good. Cynics smirk at such concepts in a business setting, deriding them as naive at best and deceptive manipulation at worst. Yet these impulses are as valid as those above and are more likely to lead to success.

It is a sad commentary on human nature that office politics partake too much of the former and not enough of the latter. But it is a true observation, and so be aware of and beware of the political pitfalls that abound.

References

Ellul, Jacques. The Technological Society. New York: Vintage Books, 1964.
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince and The Discourses. New York: Random House, 1950. (Translated by John Wilkinson).
[Copyright (c) 1995, 2007 by Bruce F. Webster. All rights reserved.]