Stuff That Happens At The Office

"What's the use of having power?" - Danko

"So that you can screw with people." - Sylar

That's from Heroes season 3.

I was talking to a friend about office politics and how some people are asses. They talk a lot, do little, schmooze with the right people, stick their feet out so other can trip (figuratively of course), go around with daggers to stab people they can't get along with (figuratively of course), taiji and other shenanigans. Oh yes, not much gets done in terms of work. Yeah you met them.

I thought about our conversation from another perspective - why are some people like that? Maybe it's the way we are brought up, especially in Singapore where the need to be number one starts early. Kids have tests when they are in kindergarten. They get tuition classes in primary 1, not because they need it but because every other kid is getting some help on the side. The assessment book industry thrives on this madness. They rush into trains to plonk asses on seats and concurrently scream "I win" as brother or sister or cousin comes in second. Whatever it takes to be number one. Moving forward a couple of decades, kids might turn into conniving adults who wield power at the boardroom. Well, office. From the cube in the corner.

It could also have been the army. Rank has a powerful influence over how maladjusted one's perceptions become about social hierarchy. The discovery that someone has to do what you order them to do opens up the ego for further expansion. Yes, power is nothing without control - line from a tyre ad. Self-control perhaps is lacking in these asses.

So with the winner, there must be losers. Someone's got to pay the price. I blame our need for social acceptance. Sometimes it is like high school at work. Being part of the gang takes you further. In fact, more companies are putting relationships with peers as appraisal criteria. If you can't make the right friends, your career might not go as far as you imagine with the effort you put in. And perhaps not opening your mouth at the right time. A lot of credibility can be lost in mere minutes when one chooses to remain silent. Stand up and hold your ground, even if people don't want to eat lunch with you no more. Hopefully the right people are listening.

Someone told me that in a big organisation, it's important that what you do is seen by the right people, not necessarily just my boss. The human brain is programmed to remember the bad things more than the good, a matter of self-preservation. So if you fark up at work, people are more likely to remember that than when you saved the company $100K with a little initiative for example. So blowing one's trumpet could have its place in corporate culture. It might even save your job.

So work isn't all about getting things done no more. It's a complex, dynamic social experience. Makes you wanna be a farmer sometimes.