At its most basic, politics is how we human beings play the game of life. We express what we want, others express what they want, and together we negotiate what we are willing to do to get what we want.
Politics is much harder than business. — Warren Buffett
We first learn to negotiate during childhood. Few of us think of crying, shouting, or pouting as political tactics — but a child who finds such tactics effective may retain them as part of the adult political repertoire. Political skills can improve with study and planning. Read on to learn to be more efficient and effective at politics, with integrity and honor.
The tactics children use to get what they want become more complex and socially sophisticated as their spheres of influence and action grow. If the child becomes particularly adept at influencing adults and peers, we may find him or her taking leadership roles in school groups, sports, or social activism. A successful leader hones political tactics the same way a child hones skill at basketball or soccer — by doing more of what succeeds and less of what fails, getting ever better at the game.
Every influential politician came to power by practicing tactics successful in their culture. It takes patience and insight to help a young leader practice political skills of tolerance, decisiveness, inclusiveness, empathy, and foresight while constraining or extinguishing negative behaviors.
Those who cannot manage themselves cannot do positive politics. Good leaders — good politicians — have learned to keep their head when chaos breaks out. Unfortunately, over the years many Americans have come to see even the word "politics" as sordid. Seeing all politics as negative politics inclines us to ambivalence at best and, at worst, a revulsion against anything that smacks of political maneuvering or bargaining.
Techies, who value intelligence, efficiency, and "facts," often suffer political revulsion and may be exceedingly poor politicians. It seldom occurs to them that their "truth" may not be "the truth" for others. Yet some Americans seem to be born diplomats. Ken's coffee cup defines a diplomat as "Someone who can tell you to go to Hell and make you look forward to the trip." Some of these political winners may seem to inherit their skill, but all have learned.
Between the truth-telling techie and the diplomat are all the rest of us who sometimes do well and sometimes not so well when we play the political game. Science fiction author Robert Heinlein once wrote, "Politics is the only sport for grownups." Like any other sport, we can learn politics. Few of us will ever play politics with the proficiency of a President or golf like a PGA Champion, but with study and practice, we can improve our game.
We should study politics in all its forms because politics affects our lives every day. When the process turns nasty, we may give it a bad name such as weaponization, manipulation, fear-mongering, or war. When the process goes well, we give it a good name such as coordination, charity, or peace. Whether nasty or good, it is politics. Fundamental to learning Positive Politics is learning our definition of certain common terms — especially those we define in the Principles for Positive Politics.
We have to use power to achieve goals. Since we cannot avoid the game, we will be more satisfied when we play politics well. Positive approaches bring greater results. Lawrence B. Serven, author of The End of Office Politics As Usual, argues for getting rid of politics altogether. But the problem is that politics is how we get others to focus on what we think is important and to define what is right. Only through political interaction can leader and led come to share objectives.
In contrast, Robert Greene in The 48 Laws of Power promotes aggressive, even abrasive participation in office politics — ruthless, deceptive, and amoral action. Among his Laws: #3 Conceal your intentions.... #15 Crush your enemy totally.... #11 Learn to keep people dependent on you. We contend that such negative control strategies sow the seeds of failure. In any organization, positive politics promise greater, healthier efficiency and effectiveness.
To accept that politics is the name of the game of human interaction will better equip us to select the strategy and tactics to cope with challenges. The positive perspective this site offers will speak to two fundamental outlooks on politics: idealist and realist, or what Ken calls harmonist and contentionist.
The realist/contentionist may seriously doubt that politics can be positive. The realist-contentionist speaks with the moral authority of a strict parent figure seeing the threat of coercion infesting every situation. The realist/contentionist might say, "While in the short run some people will get hurt, in the long run when a strict standard of behavior is set and adhered to, the nation as a whole will be better off." Security, duty, and order are critical concepts for a realist. Fear hems in hope.
The idealist/harmonist, on the other hand, says that harmony, empathy, and nurturance are primary. Hope conquers fear. Following the nurturing parent model, the idealist believes that children obey out of respect for a loving parent, not from fear of punishment. Idealists concentrate on education, institutions that help cooperation, and setting a good example. But trusting others does not guarantee that others merit that trust.
In the US, the traditional Republican party speaks more to the realist and the Democratic party more to the idealist. Both realists and idealists may try to renounce all politics. Both can see that many issues arise from the system and not from perverse individuals. We hope to help the idealist and the realist understand themselves and each other and learn to build success together. We champion positive politics rather than negative politics — the Machiavelli of The Republic rather than The Prince.
Negative politics may produce short-term advantage for individuals but will leave the community worse off. It rewards, yes, but at the expense of greater advantage longer term. As Henry Ford understood, a worker producing a good he cannot afford or is otherwise unwilling to buy will not contribute maximum benefit for the enterprise. The psychology of fear sets one up for a self-fulfilling prophecy: treating someone as a threat tends to make them a threat. Cooperation and productivity decline; everyone loses.
While realists may be more prone to espouse negative politics than idealists, idealists seem prone to their own set of ineffective tactics. Idealists often demonstrate and pontificate without thoroughly understanding the "reality" that makes positive politics actually work. A special temptation for idealists is to hold that those playing negative politics are, shudder, "evil." Acting from this outlook will undercut positive politics and become its own self-fulfilling and self-denying prophecy. Through positive politics you can learn to understand and bridge disagreements to be more successful.
Positive politics may take longer — but we achieve more and have more fun doing it.
