Political Literacy
"The ability to see how power and influence actually move through an organisation, and to make deliberate choices about how to engage with that system."
Politics is not the problem. Being blind to politics is the problem. This page is the body of work built around that idea.
Guides to navigate the unwritten rules
Most organisations run on two sets of rules: the ones written down, and the ones that actually determine who gets heard, who gets resources, and whose ideas move forward. Political literacy is the skill of reading and working with both.
The guides here are for people who are excellent at their work but keep getting blindsided by what happens around their work. They cover how power moves through organisations, why authentic expression backfires, how decisions actually get made, and what it takes to communicate in ways that create real influence, without losing yourself in the process.
This is a growing body of work. New guides will be added as they are ready.
What is Political Literacy?
Political literacy is the ability to see how power and influence actually move through an organisation, and to make deliberate choices about how to engage with that system. It is not about becoming political. It is about becoming fluent.
Most technically excellent people are politically underequipped. Not because they lack intelligence, but because nobody taught them to read the system they are working inside. Political literacy is that skill, learnable, specific, and more consequential than almost any other professional capability.
Read the Organisation Politics 101 Guide →Organisation Politics 101
A field manual for seeing the political game, understanding the players, and choosing how you want to engage. Covers the spectrum from constructive to destructive politics, power mapping, how decisions really get made, alliances and coalitions, and gendered political dynamics.
Read the guide →You spoke up. It was authentic, so where did it go wrong?
A guide for younger millennials and Gen Z navigating the gap between authentic expression and professional impact. Covers why speaking your mind backfires, the communication patterns that undermine credibility, a diagnostic framework for when things go wrong, and practical tools for speaking in ways that land.
Read the guide →Is the 360 Feedback Process Being Used Against You?
How to read whether a 360-degree feedback process, skip-level meeting, or informal gathering is being used developmentally or politically. Covers the four instruments, the mechanism underneath, how to read the signals, and the India and GCC dimension.
Read the guide →More resources coming soon