Hard Reality of Politics

Jason, it is hard to accept is the reality of political behavior.  Surely every member of our course can tell war stories about politics in the workplace.  What your humble servant here has learned over the years, the hard way, in fact, is you cannot escape politics, the human personalities and win-lose thinking, in the human condition.  The best posture is to be alert to it, know how to defend yourself from and in it, and gain skills in how to channel it to constructive ends - and personal and professional survival.  It is hard for most folks to think "win-win," the opposite of politics.  Politics is "win-lose," and, like it or not, it a hard reality - and fatal to ignore on many levels, starting on the job, as you note.