[vcryan]

Politics is inescapable. Software engineers can't live outside of them. Whether these are the team politics, org politics, etc.

I don't think engineers are universality bad/good at politics. It's just like anything else, takes practice.

[woadwarrior01]

There's a way out. Build your own company and make it something beneath you.

[antasvara]

If you have other people working at your company or investors, politics will come into play.

It's rare to have a CEO that can decide things 100% by themselves and still retain talented employees. It's also super rare to have investors with zero desire to determine a company's direction.

[j16sdiz]

On that level, there are other policies.

Politics in standards bodies, industrial organisations, regulatory issues, funding and investment, etc

[woadwarrior01]

I’ve been on both sides of the table. To me, all of those are far more palatable than petty company politics (both in BigTech and startups).

[kylecazar]

When I've reported to founders they were front and center in the politics (which is probably how it should be).

Becoming a career CEO might be a way out, though.

[woadwarrior01]

A fish rots from the head down.

[eptcyka]

Yeah, and you can also get rid of local politics by moving to the countryside and homesteading. And you can bypass national politics by homesteading on a ship or an island that nobody cares about. And you can just move to a different planet to escape global politics. But any group of people will develop some form of politics, and to do anything meaningful longterm, you need a group of people, not just an individual, why not get better at politics? It is inevitable you will have to take part in them.

But of course, I still want my hut in the woods.

[azemetre]

There's an even better way out, implement workplace democracy.

[vinnymac]

I used to run my own business when I was a child, and made a lot of money from it. Paid my way through school with my earnings. There was no sales or marketing, and all I did was product and engineering, and at no point was I politicking. So no, it's possible (albeit difficult) to not be part of the meat grinder, I have done it.

[AaronAPU]

I am a solo founder literally to avoid ever having to deal with politics and video calls.

[desireco42]

amen brother :)

[elktown]

Sure, to some degree it will always be there. But company size and careerist culture - both local to the company and differences between countries - makes it vastly different in presence.

[bdangubic]

politics is 100% escapable