Politicking, or simply positioning?

One of the silliest comments I heard about the recent Budget was that the (Labour administration) Chancellor was indulging in ‘blatant politicking’.

Putting aside the obvious truth that the Chancellor is about to face a general election, and therefore unlikely to propose many ideas which will be universally unpopular (that would amount to crass unprofessionalism, in his calling), surely he would see his Budget proposals as simple positioning, to address the concerns of those who in his view need or would welcome his support?

Is it really ‘politicking’, say, to make proposals to enable middle-low income people more easily to buy their first home? Or, as I think, a straightforward statement of strategy to demonstrate that there is a way to resolve some of the problems which such people face?

Isn’t this strategy – identifying the issues which affect different people and then seeking to resolve them – how all decent managers (and other leaders) of organisations try to cope with the issues which they must address?

Top or bottom? Where do you start?

What’s the ‘best’ way to take a good idea forward?

Where do you pitch it first, the top or the bottom of the organisation? And who, for different sorts of ideas, must you persuade?

Priority or imperative?

Is a priority something we seek to establish by logic, whilst an imperative has a moral dimension?

Does this distinction have any bearing on how people view each of them in relation to what ‘ought’ to be done?