“Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.”

Often when we first start our political lives we are unclear about all of the rules.

While there are clearly two categories of rules, written and unwritten, the former are easier to seek out and learn. All too often though we assume we know them, and so do not give the written rule the attention that it requires.

What written rules are not

Written rules are not to be considered the rules of the game, but are instead must be considered tools that you can use. Think of them as guns that you can bring to bear on others when they violate the rules that they perhaps were not even aware existed.

Where to find the rules for your company / organization

1. Company Policy Manual – remember that thing they handed you when you joined? Maybe you even signed a paper saying you read it. Find it, or better, get a new copy and read it several times. This lays out a basic set of rules for your organization.
2. Management Manual – even if you are not a manager, let me rephrase, ESPECIALLY if you are not a manager, get a copy of your company’s policy book for managers. If you’ve never read it, or haven’t read it in the last few years, you will be amazed by what you will learn.
3. HR Policies – Your Human Resources department has a huge set of policies, finding them may be more difficult than you might think, but check your intranet and/or ask around to see where these might be obtained.
4. Security Policies – Your corporate security department has a list of policies that are several miles long, and are well worth reading and memorizing. You would be amazed at what you and others are doing that you are not ‘supposed’ to be doing.
5. Ethics Policies – oh yes, these are some of my favorites! In the last few years these have become very popular. You might even have a corporate ethics officer. Find them, understand them, and leverage them.
6. Regulatory Policies – your industry is likely regulated by some government or quasi-government body. In all likelihood it’s several such bodies. Pull these off the web, print them, and study them. These are probably the most difficult to understand because they are written in legalease. Don’t let that deter you, if you are going to succeed at politics, you better start learn legalease now. You can also see opinions/interpretations of these regulations by your corporate compliance/legal departments for further clarification.

Take a few weeks to do this, study these things as if you were back in school, because in truth you are. You are now learning those things that no school ever taught. Don’t shirk your studies, this is one class you have to get an “A” in!

Play. Think. Act. Assume. Win.