Intrigue can vary from the act of arousing others curiosity or interest to  making secret plans to do something illicit or detrimental to someone.

Organizations are composed of groups of people, usually formed in teams or functional associations.  Within these organizations intrigue is often a common practice.

Political Games

The common phrase lumping politics with game playing arises because the practice of politics can proceed very much like a game.  Opponents have different objectives and compete against each other through use of different strategies.

Game playing can be very competative and, as many bridge players would tell you,  to the point of being cutthroat.  An illustration of this can be found in the pages of a great book I have in my personal collection,  “Underhanded Bridge”.

Intrigue can be a technique employed to achieve political aims within an organization.  The practice of intrigue is often just a sub-process of office politics

Risk Mitigation – Awareness

I have personally encountered few organizational situations (come to think of it actually none) where there are not at least some people that actively use intrigue, that is the hatching of secret plans to improve their lot most likely at the detriment of others.

In toxic environments the reality is, not only a few of the organizational members are off plotting but rather the majority.  Unfortunately the practice of intrigue is natural to most people.

It is through the implementation and practice of organizational cultural norms ( the organizations inherent values) that typically restrain the practice to a few people that are willing to stretch the cultural boundaries.

If you are in an organization where intrigue is openly practiced you might want to consider a change.