ctice. To do whatever it is "the right way," money will be required. To get money, someone will have to be adept at politics. To put it another way, if you want to do it the right way, you need money, and the only way to get money is through politics. I can hear your voices in my head as you read this, groaning, "I hate politics." The truth is, you don't hate politics-you hate dirty politics. There is a distinct difference between the two. Like it or not, politics get us money. From Politics convincing your boss that you need more money, to the "company" deciding to cut back spending, politics are at the top of the food chain. Money makes the world go 'round. It pays for Money equipment, it pays your salary, it pays for consultants, and it pays for books like this one. There is only one way to get money: politics. To employ best practices, you generally The right way to do it need more equipment, more downtime, more development time, or more resources. To get any of these things, you need more money. Figure 37-1. GAD's three rules of network design Let's take a closer look at the three elements and how they're interrelated: Politics Politics isn't just about the president stumping for votes, or the vice president hiring his brother rather than the best person for the job. Politics is, among other things, intrigue or maneuvering within a political unit or group to gain control or power. A group, like it or not, is two or more people. Every conversation you have with another person is political in some form. Every time you say hello to someone, your attitude and your demeanor help shape that person's opinion of you. This is politics. If you have the best idea the world has ever seen, and you go in to tell it to your boss SO she can get the funding for you, how supportive do you think she'll be if only yesterday you called her a pencil-necked knuckle- head? Would she be acting politically if she turned you down? Maybe you were being political when you assaulted her with badly formed insults. My point is that any tim