Why does so much of my job feel like politics?
You can build a good plan. You can see what should happen next. The part you resent is making other people see it too — the meetings, the convincing, the slow work of trust. You call this politics, as if it were beneath the real job. It is the real job. A plan nobody follows is not a plan. It is a wish. The people who disagree with you, stall you, or need convincing are not obstacles to the work — they are the medium the work happens in, same as wood is the medium for a carpenter. You do not get to choose whether influence is required. You only choose whether you do it with contempt or with skill. Contempt makes you slow, bitter, and worse at your actual job. Skill makes the friction smaller every time.
What you call politics is the work. Getting people to agree is not separate from the plan — it is how the plan survives contact with other people. You are not above this task. You are simply refusing to do it well, and calling that refusal fatigue.
What changes unlock by starting
- You stop treating persuasion as beneath you and start doing it on purpose
- You spot exactly who and what is blocking a plan, faster than before
- Fewer stalled decisions, because you spend effort on agreement early instead of late
- Less resentment at work — the job stops feeling unfair and starts feeling like yours