One of the scariest things a manager can say about his company, if you're thinking of joining it is, "There's no politics here."
Business guys don't perceive getting what they want as "politics" but as the natural, right thing happening. It's "politics" when it's people who aren't them getting what they want. "There's no politics" means that it's a dictatorship where the boss gets everything he wants-- and that's usually not an ideal place to work.
My consistent experience of "flat hierarchies" is summed up well by this quote from the article:
> As long as the structure of the group is informal, the rules of how decisions are made are known only to a few and awareness of power is limited to those who know the rules. Those who do not know the rules and are not chosen for initiation must remain in confusion, or suffer from paranoid delusions that something is happening of which they are not quite aware.
This is exactly why I will never work for a small company again (have only worked for 5-digit companies at least, since then).
How much can I spend on meals during business travel? Why does XYZ get to work remotely or come in late as they please, but nobody else seems to? How did ABC get to go fully remote?
Every workplace has rules, but in my experience, the more vague a company is about their rules and processes, the more they want to mindgame you into asking for less than they would've given. See things like unlimited vacation. In my experience, you can count on successful large companies having clear, well-established processes and expectations because there's simply no other way to run a business of 20- or 40,000 people.
Business guys don't perceive getting what they want as "politics" but as the natural, right thing happening. It's "politics" when it's people who aren't them getting what they want. "There's no politics" means that it's a dictatorship where the boss gets everything he wants-- and that's usually not an ideal place to work.