I agree. I find it interesting how many people are saying something to the tune of "I'd rather spend my time adding value to the company's product than learning office politics". Firstly, I don't think they're mutually exclusive. And secondly, at least in my experience, the first six months at a new company is mostly an information gathering exercise. You're not going to be able to make valuable changes to the company's product in your second week, and attempting to force through something before fully understanding why things are the way they are is probably just going to leave a bad impression on people. If that happens, good luck getting the team to buy into those good ideas you're so eager to spend your time on.