> Especially throwing other people under the bus.

Hard disagree with this one.

I've seen better success with 'compliment everyone behind their backs, giving a good reason'.

Throwing everyone under the bus can be very very effective, but it's got to be for a very short run at the goal, typically. If you end up working with those people again, you're cooked.

I'd say, if you don't see yourself working with that person ever again in the next 6mo. to 1 year, you can throw others under the bus, provided you can get ahead of them on the org charts and the cocktail talk. If you are going to be working with those people again and they are in your radius of org chart or cocktail talk, compliment them all behind their backs relentlessly.

Don't be a doormat, of course, but sing other's praises. You'll get a reputation for being a great person to work with, and everyone wants to work with a great person to work with.

Everything else on this list is spot on, great write up!

You have to be careful with throwing people under the bus because if it's noticed by people..going to be honest, they are not going to trust you and word will get around. You become that snake to avoid, you're dangerous to work with. So, hopefully you do it in a way where it can't come back to you. At the org I work at, if you're seen doing this, you're not a team player and you get an unofficial mark against you. People will generally look up to people who take responsibility.

Regular smoozing I think is not too hard and you're just being sociable.

If you feel you need to play politics, get with good team and play politics in concert. My department has made a lot of good progress just by providing a united front and influencing together. It doesn't even have to be a bad thing.

What if you gain a reputation as the person who throws snakes under the bus?

That seems like it would be a very good reputation to have with non-snakes because it would signal to them that you'll defend them the need arises.

Then that's not playing politics and throwing people under a bus, that's standing up for values.

>> Especially throwing other people under the bus. > Hard disagree with this one.

Sometimes you gotta burn bridges. The IT/tech world is surprisingly small, and it's possible you'll see these people again, but the trade-offs can sometimes be worth it.

Guys like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates have reputations of acting like A-holes. You're going to have to step on someone's toes to make it to the top.

History is being written as we type.

That said, he's out of runway and can't get ahead anymore, being the US President and all. The throwing everyone under the bus tactic can't work if you can't distance yourself away from those you burned, and he's out of room now.

> Get the scoop on what's actually going on at executive levels by making friends with the office managers/personal assistants.

I'd expand this to always make friends with gatekeepers. Office managers, PAs, front desk, kitchen staff, building security, etc. They're hardworking people who tend to be ignored and mistreated. Respect them, be friendly, and it will open many gates along with making their lives better.

Genuine question: how is making friends with the kitchen staff going to advance your career?

I have heard many things I'm not supposed to know from the rumour mill that kitchen/support staff is apparently a part of. They're not always entirely correct, but they are always at least correct enough that I can find out things I normally cannot find out.

Of course there are also the not directly career benefits such as having better/nicer food and a more pleasurable time at work.

You never know. They may not get you a promotion but they can improve your quality of life. They're more likely to respond to your input about what the kitchen should stock and/or serve. As another reply mentioned they may pass on information.

Be good to others and they'll be good to you.

They hear things and typically like to talk.

You would have done well to show more examples; people are having trouble with the art of bus manipulation.

* Throw people under the bus, but pull them out at the last moment. "I could say that it's the other team's fault, but we're practicing blameless postmortems. Can we focus on fixing our process?"

* Throw people under multiple busses. "We're behind on the upgrade effort because there are three different upgrade efforts going on and we can't focus on any of them."

* Throw busses at people. "I am not trying to take over your team. I am only asking that we follow the law. Waiting for Legal is a smokescreen; we need to act now or get sued next quarter."

* Be bureaucratic. "I wasn't able to finish the project because we have issues in deployment and code review. We'll be finished soon, and I'm improving our deployment process so that this won't happen again."

To be clear, bus throwing is most effective in two situations:

1) The executives-wrangling-for-a-role level. If three people want that sweet VP title, they're not just trying to show they're the best, they're also trying to show the other two people are not good for the role. Taking a promotion competitor and throwing them under the biggest bus possible is a great way to knock them out of the running. Chances are they're trying to do the same to you. (Note: at Big Cos, high-level promotions are at least as much about politics as about actual merit of work / competency).

2) The other person is a different part of the org entirely. For example if there's a project that's a joint effort between IT and Marketing and something goes wrong you better believe the ladder climbers are going to look for the biggest bus available to throw the other team lead under. It's an effective strategy because it's a responsibility avoidance tactic and, hey, screw those other guys because they never give you what you want anyway.

Please note I don't actually recommend people do these things unless they care more about career advancement at all costs than about actually building strong relationships, well-functioning teams, and general life happiness. The thing is, a lot of people prioritize the former, which I think is the whole impetus behind the article's title.

> - Play politics. A lot. Especially throwing other people under the bus.

That's a gun with one bullet. If you use it, you better use it wisely, cause there are no takebacks if you miss.

I don't doubt that this happens frequently in many orgs. But I would like to caution people against grabbing onto the narrative that the unethical, scummy political games played by others are the cause of one's professional suffering. It's an easy thing to do, but just because it feels good doesn't mean it is true.

Of course, it doesn't mean it isn't true. But narratives that soothe the ego should always receive an extra dose of scrutiny.

Unfortunately I agree that these points work well. But even better and healthier for your soul is to work somewhere where technical excellence gets rewarded and respected. I think it hurts me financially but I just can’t make myself into a political animal without killing my spirit.

> - Loyalty is for chumps.

That's simply not true, but ...

- Be loyal to people not things.

- Loyalty is earned, not given out freely.

I assumed he was talking about loyalty to the company - in which case I agree with him.

Not agree with first. I have seen people change over time.

If everything smells like shit, maybe you should check your shoe?

I will print this out for my teenage sons and make them learn this.

Teach them to be good people while they're still impressionable. Save this stuff for when they're older and it's easier to change tactics, and harder to change character.

How sad. But not at all surprising that someone would eagerly jump on trying to advance their career by such unethical means.

Ugh, please don't.

Or just advise them not to work at a Big Co with shitty culture?