The Organisational Politics Playbook
A 72-page playbook and 21 worksheets built on Machiavelli's Prince — mapping who actually decides, inheriting a team, being liked versus being relied on, and the reorganisation you did not see coming.
Key Capabilities & Features:
- •Machiavelli read as descriptive rather than prescriptive — he is reporting how power behaved, and the useful move is recognising it, not imitating it
- •A decision map worksheet that separates the four roles the org chart collapses: who signs, who can veto without ever saying so, who is consulted, and who is merely informed and does not know it
- •The liked-versus-relied-on trade made explicit, because a manager who optimises for being liked has quietly given up the ability to say no
- •A closing chapter naming the advice that reads as bold and ends careers, rather than omitting the uncomfortable chapters
- •Worksheets meant to be filled in by hand, several of which work better slowly
One-time payment • Lifetime access & future updates
What's Inside
8 chapters21 exercisesEvery chapter below is included in the single purchase — 72 pages in total.
- 1
Politics Is Not Optional
2 exercisesWhy the person who refuses to engage is still being acted upon, and what Machiavelli is actually describing. Two worksheets on how decisions currently reach you.
- 2
Mapping Who Decides
4 exercisesThe real decision map against the org chart — who signs, who vetoes quietly, who is consulted, who is merely informed and believes otherwise. Four worksheets.
- 3
Inheriting Something
3 exercisesChapters III–V: taking over a team, project or territory that has its own history, and why the predecessor's arrangements matter more than your plan. Three worksheets.
- 4
Liked Or Relied On
3 exercisesThe feared-versus-loved chapter, translated honestly: what happens when the two conflict, and the manager who optimises for being liked and cannot then say no. Three worksheets.
- 5
Advisors & Flatterers
3 exercisesChapter XXIII on why you stop hearing bad news as you rise, how to construct dissent deliberately, and the person who tells you the truth at a cost. Three worksheets.
- 6
Change & Its Enemies
3 exercisesChapter VI on why reform is opposed by everyone who benefits from the current arrangement and supported only tepidly by those who might gain. Three worksheets.
- 7
Fortune & Preparation
2 exercisesChapter XXV on the half of outcomes you do not control, what preparation actually buys, and reading a reorganisation before it is announced. Two worksheets.
- 8
Where The Prince Is Wrong
1 exerciseThe chapters that do not transfer — cruelty, faithlessness, and the ones people quote to justify behaviour that will end their career. One worksheet.
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Technical Specifications
Architecture & System Overview
Everybody in an organisation has a theory about how decisions get made there, and most of those theories are the org chart with resentment added.
The Organisational Politics Playbook is 72 pages and 21 worksheets across eight chapters, built on Machiavelli's Prince: why politics is not optional, mapping who decides, inheriting something, liked or relied on, advisors and flatterers, change and its enemies, fortune and preparation, and where the Prince is wrong.
The framing matters. Machiavelli is read here as descriptive, not prescriptive — he is reporting how power actually behaved in the states he observed, and the value is in recognising the pattern when it is happening to you. A book that told you to imitate a sixteenth-century prince would be both useless and a good way to get fired.
The central worksheet is the decision map. An org chart shows reporting lines; it does not show that the person who can quietly kill your proposal has no authority over it and will never say no out loud. The worksheet separates four roles the chart collapses into one, and most people discover that the person they have been persuading is not the one who decides.
The advisors chapter is the one that gets used most by people who are promoted. You stop hearing bad news as you rise — not because anyone lies, but because the cost of delivering it went up and nobody chose to pay it. The worksheet builds a dissent structure deliberately, because waiting to be told is a strategy that fails silently.
And the last chapter names the advice that does not transfer. The chapters on cruelty and on keeping faith are quoted constantly by people who want permission for something, and following them in a modern organisation is career-ending rather than bold. They are addressed rather than skipped.
On the source: Il Principe (1532), from the W. K. Marriott 1908 translation, which is in the public domain. An independent work of application, not affiliated with any publisher or edition.
Pairs with The Art of War Strategy Disciplines — one is about competing with other organisations, this one is about operating inside your own.
Compare with Similar AI Templates
| Specification | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Rating | 4.9(24) | 4.9(40) | 4.92(31) | 4.94(38) |
| AI Models | No AI tool required | GPT-5, Claude Opus 5, Gemini 3.7 Flash | GPT-5, Claude Opus 5, Gemini 3.7 Flash | GPT-5, Claude Opus 5, Gemini 3.7 Flash |
| Formats Included | 72-Page PDF Playbook + 21 Worksheets | PDF Prompt Playbook | PDF Swipe File | 64-Page PDF Playbook + 22 Worksheets |
| Lifetime Updates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Creator Rating | PromptWolf (99.2%) | Dr. Lucas Vance (99.2%) | Dr. Lucas Vance (99.2%) | Dr. Lucas Vance (99.2%) |
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Verified User Feedback
Row 2 was the whole problem
I had spent three months persuading the person who signs. The person who could quietly not prioritise it had never been in a single conversation. Fixed in one meeting once I could see the row existed.
My no had become negotiable
Six months into managing and I could not work out why the team seemed less settled despite my agreeing to everything. The instalments description is exactly what had happened.
Descriptive, not prescriptive
I was wary of a Machiavelli product and it is not what I feared. It is about recognising the pattern when it happens to you, and it explicitly names the chapters that would get you fired.
Assumes an organisation
If you are a freelancer or in a company of six, half the worksheets have nowhere to land. It is genuinely aimed at people inside a structure with layers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this teaching me to be manipulative?
No. Machiavelli is read as descriptive — a report on how power behaved, useful because it lets you recognise what is happening to you. The final chapter explicitly names the advice that reads as bold and ends careers, rather than quietly omitting it.
Do I need to have read The Prince?
No. Each chapter states what the source argues before translating it. The text is short and public domain if you want it, and the playbook assumes you have not read it.
I work somewhere small. Will this apply?
Partly. The decision map, the advisors chapter and the change-opposition material work at any size. The inheritance and fortune chapters assume layers of structure, and one reviewer makes exactly that point.
Do I need an AI tool?
No — it is a playbook with worksheets meant to be filled in by hand, and several work better slowly. If you want prompts for competitive rather than internal decisions, that is The Art of War Strategy Disciplines.