The Power Politics and Designing

What Is Politics?

Power to effect one's will is what politics is about. People seek power for the pleasure of having it, for prestige, for the fear it induces in others, and for the benefits it helps to bring. There are many kinds of power:

• Magic power is the imagined ability to cause changes in the real world by manipulating symbols and by incantations.
  
  
  
  
• Design power is the ability to cause the product to perform in accordance with your will.
  
  
• Political power is the ability to cause people to perform in accordance with your will.

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language definition of politics is "use of intrigue or strategy in obtaining a position of power or control, as in business, universities, government, etc."

The connotation of immorality is common but not universal. The Founding Fathers, all our presidents, both good and bad, all business entrepreneurs (including me), and many great engineers and scientists (e.g., Joseph Strauss of the Golden Gate Bridge, Edison, Tesla, and Westinghouse) have all been politicians. There is a complete moral spectrum of people who seek power, from the worst to the best.

There is no carrying of concept to product without politics. The better you are as a politician, the more successful you will be in getting your designs to market and in having them get there as you want them designed.

You are a politician whether you like it or not, so be a successful one.

Politics and You

The people you relate to politically include:

• Your management hierarchy
  
  
• Your coworkers
  
  
• Your assistants
  
  
• Other departments: manufacturing (products and processes), marketing, accounting, services
  
  
• Customers
  
  
• Secretaries

Some of your political problems as a design engineer are:

• Your workplace
  
  
• Your budget
  
  
• Your assignments
  
  
• Your supervisors
  
  
• Your coworkers
  
  
• Your company's other departments
  
  
• Your customers
  
  
• Your vendors

Political Processes

Virtuous political processes which you may practice to cause people to perform as you want them to include:

• Doing good work
  
  
• Making friends (networking, contacts)
  
  
• Verbal persuasion
  
  
• Written persuasion
  
  
• Favors
  
  
• Trading benefits
  
  
• Flattery
  
  
• Small gifts (e.g., flowers to secretaries, greeting cards)
  
  
• Entertainment

Vicious political processes which you may practice or which may be practiced on you include:

• Doing bad work
  
  
• Making enemies
  
  
• Favoritism
  
  
• Evasion
  
  
• Distortion
  
  
• Threats
  
  
• Conspiracy
  
  
• Treachery
  
  
• Bribery
  
  
• Lies
  
  
• Fraud

These lists are not just theoretical. Rank and status are associated with political power and are among the motives for seeking political power. Rank and status not only feel good but display and reinforce that power. Among the components of rank and status, other than cash income and a piece of the action are:

• Titles
  
  
• Office facilities. Windows, rugs, large area, quality furniture and decorations, secretary (or secretaries), location (mahogany row), private or semiprivate bathroom.
  
  
• Badges and ID cards. Identification of class of employment, rank, duration of employment, and awards.
  
  
• Dress codes. Usually unofficial; too complicated to detail here.
  
  
• Perks. Long vacations, club memberships, favorable sick leave and time-off rules, company car, executive dining room, even an executive barber shop.
  
  
• Designation.

The military go the limit in all these classifications.

In some companies, such as in computer software, there is an inverse show. The president wears a checked shirt with no tie and drives an old, battered car. Scraggly beards and sandals without socks indicate status as a professional.

In our personal lives the desire for status shows in our cars, license plates, clothes, jewelry, memberships, and many other things.

In the United States the desire to exhibit status is limited and inhibited by our democratic tradition. In Germany a Ph.D. who has taught in college and is now head of a company is addressed as Herr Doktor Professor Director Schmidt. In England nothing matches the award of a title of nobility (knight, dame, lord, etc.), which is specifically forbidden by the United States Constitution. We have only "The Honorable Mr. Smith" instead. We do permit the exhibition of some professional and academic titles on stationery (for example, Ph.D., Lie. P.E., C.P.A., M.D., D.D.S.) and in conversation [for example, Your Honor, Professor, Doctor (for Ph.D. or M.D.), Counselor]. Job titles are almost unlimited and are permitted on business cards and under your signature in letters.

How to Politick

Observe and analyze the political processes around you in the world, nation, company, and family. Your deeper understanding and better practice will contribute mightily to your success.

Don't hide your light under a bushel and wait for the world to discover how great you are. All successful entrepreneurs and inventors have been publicity hounds, including me. The major reason for publishing technical papers is the personal publicity they bring.

Don't strut and boast, because the effect will be bad. Distribute copies of your reports and papers; meet the editors of your house organ and trade journals and everyone else. Give papers at technical society meetings, and meet the other visitors to those meetings. Write letters to the editor. Refer to your achievements in conversation, but casually. In short, boast while seeming modest.

Use the political processes described above. It's up to you which ones you choose to avoid on ethical grounds. Always remember that being a good politician is an essential requirement for success.