[sgtnoodle]

It definitely helps to be familiar with an organization to actively participate in it. You can accumulate political capital independent from the management structure, though, and you can manage without playing politics.

I always suggest folk to embrace and understand an existing organization's culture before attempting to effect change within it.

[Talanes]

It's usually a bad idea to try to change a process without understanding the reason behind it. It's always a bad idea to try and change it without TRYING to understand the reason behind. it.