[tgma]

ICs like to think they don't have to deal with politics. It is only an illusion that sometimes is true because their manager happen to protect them from those (double-edged sword: hurts visibility) and if they are lucky their interests are aligned with the boss. ICs often have a worse hand in politics because they have to fly blind in the politics world and operate with less information and visibility.

[timr]

I agree, but being aware of politics is entirely different than jumping into the deep end of the pool.