I think both approaches have their place. The hacker style (no
bullshit, no politics) is good for problem solving, but is lousy for
dealing with management who have fears, desires, and a need to feel
important and smart. Those people you need to be political with, or
else they'll reject you for their own lousy reasons. Because they
can.
The best solution, I think, is politics used to get the same outcome
that hackers want. It seems to me, though, that most people with
political savvy are not pushing the right technical solutions.
Nat
