[TheOtherHobbes]

Good faith disagreements are not politics, they're negotiation.

Politics is when one person/group tries to sabotage/undermine another person/group out of self-interest, even though it harms the project and reduces value.

Their self-interest becomes their top goal.

My personal take is that there are two extremes of culture. One is dedicated to engineering and management excellence. Everyone contributes. Even if there's vigorous disagreement the engine runs smoothly and Things Get Done.

The other is a snake pit of back stabbing, drama, competitive ambition, and narcissism which spreads from the c-suite down. Things still get done, sometimes, but they're poor quality - or at least much poorer than they could be. If they make it to market they'll be overhyped and oversold. (Contempt for customers and employees alike is a good tell-tale.)

No org is 100% one or the other, but those are the competing tendencies, and - of course - they're very different to work in.

[wwweston]

Negotiation is a form of politics, not a separate thing from politics. Good faith negotiation is a principled and often relatively productive form of politics, but it remains politics nonetheless.

> out of self-interest

It's important to note that politics is as frequently driven by values as interests. This is true both in the office and in nation-states. And given that differing values often produce differing visions of excellence, a commitment to excellence doesn't spare people from the efforts/rigors of politics.