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The U.S. Government Could Have Handled the TikTok matter in a Much Simpler and Better Way
Share a simple and effective tactic I learned in office politics.
Substack version of this article.
Update (2025–01–20): Elon Musk’s new tweet, posted two days after this article, aligns with the views expressed in it.
As the date of the “TikTok ban if not selling” is approaching, TikTok news dominates headlines. A recent one is that TikTok is planning to take its 100M+ users hostage to thread “immediate shutdown.”
This article does not take sides in the TikTok dispute, rather I share some insights I learned dealing with office politics. I think the U.S. government handled this TikTok matter poorly:
- Neglect the big picture.
- Respond slowly, and too late.
- Play the game passively.
- A simple yet much better tactic: Play the ball back
- The most important tactic I learned in office environments: Let Others Prove.