What We Can Learn From The Animals About Office Politics
Playing in the Concrete Jungle without being Played Out During Global Economic Recession
Table of Contents
Table of Illustrations
Introduction and Background of the Author
Are office politics really that bad? ……………………………………………
What makes you think you can escape the office politics jungle? ……………
Office Politics in Person-to-Person Interaction………………………………
When the State of the Office Influences Action………………………………
Five Ways to Succeed – Becoming King of the Jungle …………………..…..
Five Ways to Fail – What the animals can tell us to avoid ………………........
Fight or Flight – When to put up your dukes or cut and run ………………......
The Human Animal – Our Innate Good and Bad Animal Instincts ……………
A Favorite Animal – How choosing one can help you ………………………...
When Nothing Stays the Same – How to deal with transition …………………
Appropriate Action – A summary of the lessons we can learn ………………...
Table of Illustrations
|
Illustration |
Page Number |
Illustration Number |
|
Office of Clueless People |
|
1 |
|
Out For Lunch |
|
2 |
|
Lioness Preening |
|
3 |
|
Rats for Hire |
|
4 |
|
Vacuuming/Walking Dog/ Working |
|
5 |
|
Snake Eating Man |
|
6 |
|
Gazelles Fighting Over Girl |
|
7 |
|
Lion and Hyena Dinner |
|
8 |
|
Hard-Working Beaver |
|
9 |
|
Monkey Teams |
|
10 |
|
Shark Dinner |
|
11 |
|
Jungle Surgery |
|
12 |
|
Chameleon |
|
13 |
|
Arm Wrestling in Office |
|
14 |
|
Lion Marking His Territory |
|
15 |
|
Peacock with the Ladies |
|
16 |
|
Sad Panda |
|
17 |
|
Hard-Working Bird |
|
18 |
|
Deer Being Hunted |
|
19 |
|
Lion in Bath / Shark Out of Water |
|
20 |
|
Monkey-baby Toy Taking |
|
21 |
|
Monkey-baby Biting |
|
22 |
|
Mustang Rearing |
|
23 |
|
Mustang is the Lion’s Dinner |
|
24 |
|
Lion is Afraid of Snakes |
|
25 |
|
Elephant Listening for Typhoon |
|
26 |
|
Wise Man |
|
27 |
Introduction
The animal world is rife with office politics and through simple observations, we can see how animals react to the same situations we find in the concrete jungle. The animals play politics as a way of life to survive in the jungle. And if they get played out, it may mean ending up as a meal for other animals. By making comparisons to the animal world, we can increase our toolbox of tactics to succeed in our offices. During these days of global economic slowdown, the political fight for job preservation becomes more intense, the ability to handle office politics is even more critical.
This is the rationale for writing this book. With the global recession, many jobs are going to be lost, and our concrete jungle is quickly becoming a true struggle for survival of the fittest. In these conditions, performance is not enough. By learning from animals which meet crisis frequently and observing how they survive we can increase our own ability to survive in the concrete jungle.
This book is universal because as long as there are people, notwithstanding the culture, there are politics. We each must deal with people’s egos, backgrounds and motivation (along with many other individual issues) and as jobs retrenchment increases and companies go bust, the fight for job preservation and survival becomes increasingly intense. The animal behavior in us surfaces in these circumstances. And when our animal behavior increases, so does the tendency toward survival of the fittest.
When this type of behavior takes precedence in the concrete jungle, everybody must wise-up and perform, otherwise he or she will not keep their job for very long. But simple performance under such circumstances is not enough. One needs to excel and stand out among the crowd - thus playing the political game well is critical.
But playing well does not mean playing dirty. By no reach of imagination is this book espousing playing dirty politics. Animals do not do that and nor is it natural for humans to do so. Animals do not play the political game out of malice or greed. They play the game to protect themselves and their young. Even predators do not kill for killing’s sake. Once these predators have their fill, they leave the other prey-animals alone until the next meal. The animal ecosystem is a fair and balanced world that has lasted for millennia.
This delicate balance based on ethical politics is why we do not see the systemic collapse of the animal kingdom as we are currently seeing in our economic system. The biggest destruction in the animal kingdom is actually caused by men who are invading into then animals’ space, polluting the environment and the air and hunting animals ruthlessly for private gain. Because of their delicate balance, the animals even survive the destructive forces of Mother Nature such as drought and famine. But many species of animals are destroyed by men. It is in our best interest to learn from the animals and form this same balance in our lives to better survive in the concrete jungle.
Background of the Author
D
r.
Mike Teng is the author of a best-selling book "Corporate
Turnaround: Nursing a sick company back to health," in 2002
which is also translated into the Bahasa Indonesia. In 2006, he
authored another book entitled, "Corporate Wellness: 101
Principles in Turnaround and Transformation.” He also published in
2007/2008 five management books, namely entitled:
“Internet Turnaround: The Use of Internet Marketing to Turnaround
Companies;” “Training Manual: Corporate Turnaround and
Transformation Methodology;” “Link Baiting to Improve Your Page
Ranking on Search Engines” and “Corporate Turnaround: Global
Perspective as well as Fundamentals of Buying and Selling of
Companies.”
Dr. Teng is currently the Managing Director of Corporate Turnaround Centre Pte, Ltd. which provides corporate training and management advisory services. He has 28 years of experience in corporate turnaround, strategic planning and operational management responsibilities in the Asia Pacific. Of these, he held Chief Executive Officer’s positions for 18 years in multi-national and publicly listed companies.
Dr. Teng served as the Executive Council member for fourteen years and the last four years as the President of the Marketing Institute of Singapore (2000 – 2004), the national marketing association. Dr. Teng holds a Doctor in Business Administration (DBA) from the University of South Australia, Master in Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering (BEng) from the National University of Singapore. He is also a Professional Engineer (P Eng, Singapore), Chartered Engineer ( C Eng, UK) and Fellow Member of several prestigious professional institutes namely, Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM), Chartered Management Institute (FCMI), Institute of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), Marketing Institute of Singapore (FMIS), Institute of Electrical Engineers (FIEE) and Senior Member of Singapore Computer Society (SMSCS).
Are office politics really that bad?
D
o
you ever wake up in the morning, visions of angst and uncomfortable
office moments swimming in your head? Has some situation in the
office ever gotten you so worked-up that you couldn’t sleep? If
you don’t want to admit it, that’s ok. I’ll admit it for you.
I’ve certainly felt this way and I would bet that you have, too.
No matter how long or short we have been in our careers, we have each learned that it is a constant struggle to succeed in the marketplace. And while you are busy trying to muddle-through, so is everyone else around you! And the best part – as we each make our ways through the world, none of us really has any idea what we’re doing!
We can see that we’re each struggling to win by looking at the politics that are being played in the American Congress regarding the approval of the economic bailout. Although the whole world might collapse without this bailout, the legislators are bickering and arguing, fussing and jockeying for position. And while they negotiated for pork-barrel additions to a critical issue, the world held its breath – and Congress never realized that not making a decision was making the worst decision of all! This is a prime example of how politics can overtake rational thinking. Although the final decision was made to approve the 700 USD billion rescue plan – it was too little too late. The Dow Jones and global stock markets continued to plummet as they lost confidence in the US authority’s ability to solve the financial crisis.
However, with knowledge comes power. By remembering to think before we act (or in Congress’s case, thinking before not acting), we can keep ourselves from falling into that trap. By keeping our wits about us, we can survive and actually thrive within the confines of this crazy politically-charged world!
Because the office environment really is “survival of the fittest” with a vicious and brutal lifecycle just like those boring books in science class described, keeping our wits about us in this setting is critical. And the pressure to do this has become more urgent in the face of the recent global economic downturn. This has led many people to consider just how to best survive in this coming time which has already been rife with layoffs, mergers and general turmoil. After some very intriguing observations, I learned that there are some very strong similarities between the jungle and our offices. And that made me ponder the possibility that we might be able to learn some tricks from the animals to face the political game on our daily forays into the concrete jungle. Animals face crisis or the threat of crisis everyday – from drought, famine, flood, forest fires to even being eaten alive if they’re not careful enough. Animals have learned to cope with their own brand of office politics, honing their behavior into a fine art of specialization for the survival of each of their species.
M
an's
enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.
~ Lao Tzu
Illustration 27
B
ased
on my review of the television
shows which proudly show us the mean-streets of the animal world, the
jungle is an integrated ecosystem and each animal is an integrated
part of that system. Surprisingly, our office environments are based
on the same principles! So, it’s pretty easy to deduce that the
environments in which we work are integrated office-ecosystems and
each person is an integrated part of that system. Just take a look
at your own office. Do you think you could do your job well if your
administrative assistant decided to stop helping you? And do you
think that your boss could do his job well if you were busy focusing
on the duties of the administrative assistant? And if this anarchy
were to occur, how many other people would be affected by your
inability to focus on your core-duties?
I know that in my own situation, there would be a great number of people that would be unable to complete most of their core-functions if I were to suddenly shutdown. And it is this intricate system upon which we have become so reliant. Think about your home-life. Do you work in partnership with your spouse or significant other? Or do you hire someone to help with your household chores? Either way, you have an intricate system which helps you to efficiently and effectively manage even your home-life.
One can even look to the news reports and the events which overtook the economic scene in America in 2008. Wall Street collapsed under the weight of poor political and regulatory choices. Just to point-out a few of the big examples, we can see from the collapse of Bear Stearn, Lethman Brothers, and AIG that we created an intricate network of intertwined connections which could easily be described as an economic or political ecosystem. And the effects of these collapses are resounding throughout the lives of every man, woman, and child – and especially the office environment. Because of the substantial changes in the economic environment, changes in the office environment have already begun to occur.
In the mid and later parts of 2008, several firms, although extremely financially stable and still showing a substantial profit, have begun downsizing, restructuring, relocating headquarters, and creating a virtual bloodbath within the office. In this type of situation, the mentality of “survival of the fittest” is becoming more and more prevalent. In these tough times, performing well is only the first step – playing the political game will be the key element that can ensure survival. And the solution to this economic crisis will be quite a time in coming, perhaps even years. Even as we struggle now to change our economic policies and governments create 700-billion dollar packages, the solution lies at the basis of the problem – the world’s dependence on oil, inflation, short-sighted decisions within major financial firms. It’s a virtual economic war out there!
So, how does this all fit-in with our story? Well, that’s simple. Since we’re all interconnected, it would make sense that the war is not only in our stock markets, the lending markets affected by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, or the far-away world of Wall Street but also here in our own backyard. If we are vigilant and take on our small part in the war with a vengeance, we can become part of the solution. If we can foster innovation within our individual firms by playing the political game and striving to be the very best we can be, our part of the world will be improved by that much. Just because the world is going crazy doesn’t meant that we can’t think rationally and help ourselves be a head above the rest.
Playing the Political Game is a Part of Life
If we have to get out of our comfy beds, shower, eat breakfast, climb into our cars and open those doors to the office every morning, then office politics are just a way of life we have to learn to live with. I did this same thing every day for many years, struggling with everyone else until I began to think about my situation and how I might change myself to a better deal. And as a study in helping myself become more successful, I took a look at how the animals successfully play within their version of the concrete jungle every day. I have been applying these techniques for quite some time and have found them to be very effective in our daily interactions. And I find this to be true, because just like us humans, animals are inherently political, if in their own way.
They are political because each animal, big and small, predator and victim, etc. has a role to play and is able to live harmoniously with all the other animals in the same jungle. You have predators, prey and a lot of interaction between the two, sure, but the cycle of life continues. If we can harness some of the innate knowledge and coping skills that the animals have, we might just learn how to play our own game more successfully. Because that’s what this story is – playing the political game more successfully than ever before. Learning a bit more about how to handle ourselves and how to deal with other people by seeing how our animal brethren deal with similar situations could give us a few more tools with which to navigate the office world.
I do not suggest that we each sit in front of the television for hours watching animal-lovers-shows trying to divine the way of animals. However, I do implore each person reading this book to think critically about the animal behavior you are already familiar with and how their interactions might be similar to those we have with each other. Because people come from the animal world and the animals have much that they can teach us. Even if you believe that we were created by the hand of God, it is hard to deny that at one time, we did live in the same jungle as the animals. So, surely, they and we share some of the same innate behaviors that come from the same place – our instincts.
A
nd
as you
read this book remember that there are people of every type, shape
and ability, the same as our animal counterparts. Each person has a
role to play just like the animals. And not everyone will understand
exactly how each animal or each person plays, but I assure you that
they do. And because 50% of our population is make-up of the
female-type, similar to the animals, keep in mind that the women
within your organization (including those of you reading this that
are women) are an integral part of the office-ecosystem.
We should acknowledge that women have an important position within the corporate world, just as the lioness’ role is crucial to the survival of the lion-species. Because, surely, if the lioness was not there, nor could the lion exist, and likewise for any female counterpart of any species. We are all important in our way and should be recognized as such. But we should all remember that survival to the females of any species is somewhat different and rife with different dangers than that of the male portion of the species.
Women must tread lightly in the concrete jungle – there are many reasons why a woman may be in a situation where her job would be in jeopardy because of her gender. While men are rarely harassed by other men, women may often be in a room full of men and, although it is not intentional, one or more of the men may join-in on a joke which is inappropriate for mixed company. Although a woman may interpret this type of behavior as sexual harassment, it is an undefined difference. If this same woman were to make a statement about the inappropriateness of the joke, she may be shunned and seen as a whiner.
However, every woman should be aware that sexual harassment exists and can truly affect one’s career – the choice of whether or not to cry foul is one each woman may face in her career. Even woman-to-woman sexual harassment may occur. Take my friend Terri for example.
Tao’s Story
Tao had worked for Heng for only a month when Heng started inviting her to lunch. Tao didn’t think anything of the invitations or that Heng paid – Heng’s salary was significantly more than Tao’s, so she thought it was alright. When Tao had been there for about three months, Heng brought Tao a gift – a lawnmower. This was very convenient as Tao’s had just malfunctioned and was unable to be repaired. Tao was so grateful; she still didn’t suspect that anything might be inappropriate.
Even when Heng bought Tao a coat as the weather turned colder, Tao didn’t consider that Heng might think more of their relationship than Tao suspected. It was when Tao started dating a guy in the building next door that things turned sour. Heng began berating Tao by e-mail for minor mistakes and imagined problems, even yelling at her in front of the entire office for a mistake that Heng made herself! Then Heng began threatening Tao’s job and the executive officer had to step-in and keep Tao from being fired. Tao only began to suspect Heng was romantically interested in her after Heng demoted Tao and then left the firm. Tao’s demotion held a significant pay decrease and reduction in responsibility – all because she didn’t notice that her female boss was interested in her. Imagine if things might have been different if Tao hadn’t thought about the possibility earlier-on that Heng was romantically interested.
I know that this sounds like an unlikely event. However, it may happen more than we know. And even man-to-woman sexual harassment may happen more than we know. It’s a tough call for a woman to speak-out against harassment, but it is something that may have to be done to save one’s career.
And I have found that it is ok to speak-out anonymously or through whistle blowing program if you see this type of behavior occurring in your workplace even if you aren’t involved. It certainly didn’t bother me when Nico, the Information Technology Director in my office started buying gifts for a young lady in my group named Mee. And I would never have thought twice about it – maybe they were dating, right? Wrong. When I overheard Mee one day speaking to a co-worker about the situation and how uncomfortable she was, but also how afraid she was to speak-out against a director, I knew it was in everyone’s best interest if I stepped-in. Now, it was not my place to go speak directly to Nico, but I did go talk to the Human Resources Director. When I explained the situation, immediate action was taken. And Nico didn’t lose his job, but neither did Mee lose any face. And no one but the Human Resources Director and I know who made the complaint!
However, some women may find their jobs in jeopardy for quite the opposite situation. If a woman chooses to utilize their gender to achieve favoritism or power, she can be quickly removed from her position. Even if a woman is not intentionally playing to her sex, she may be labeled the same – and this can come from not only the men in the office but also the other women. Jin was a young lady in my office recently which learned this lesson very well.
Jin’s Story
Jin wasn’t trying to impress anyone. She was an administrative assistant in a large office with plenty of much younger and more attractive ladies. And because there were so many young ladies that dressed younger than Jin, she decided that she should also start dressing younger.
Unfortunately, Jin chose clothing that was too provocative and too revealing. Her pants were too tight and her breasts were near to bursting from her shirts. Soon, none of the women in the office would talk to her except when absolutely necessary – and the men were talking to her all too often without any need. Her boss soon noticed that she was getting less and less work done and her relationships with the other administrative assistants were suffering because they would no longer work with her. Rather than confronting the issue, her boss deflected and transferred Jin to another office. When she couldn’t find a workable situation at her new office, she was fired.
Generally, the message is for women to understand that they play a significant role in the corporate jungle – but there are significant pitfalls that lay in wait. Women need to be aware of the danger and be cautious at all times to ensure that they are not the focus of traditional gender issues, or the emerging issues that may be unique to their situation. However, women have the potential to do just as well as men, given that they avoid the pitfalls and maintain a proactive approach to advocating their careers. We need to keep in mind that women are half of the population – with half of the brainpower.
Keep in mind also that we can learn from any animal, no matter what their label in our society. For example, think about the brave little rat. Rats have been on this planet for a very, very long time. They have outlived the dinosaurs and have infiltrated most of the known planet. While considered poorly in many cultures, some rats (cute white ones, mostly) are used in the laboratory for medical tests because their genes are similar to the human. In several countries, some rats are considered food and are a rich and healthy source of proteins. However, bad rats and mice are often regarded as pests because they can carry disease, they get into our food and they are everywhere.
Once someone is labeled as a pest in their organization, it is very difficult to change the perception. Everyone within an office talks, so everyone will know. Because of the danger that a political pest presents, people are wary and will react poorly when interaction is necessary with that person. This is true even with change of management. New managers talk with the staff and quickly get a feel for the office environment. And as quickly as they determine who the political pests are, they will single them out for termination or avoid them. Hence the rationale for playing fair at all times in the political game. And the pressure to do this is increasing with the increase in economic difficulty and turmoil. If you are caught playing dirty politics in tough times, you can be sure that you will be played out.
P
eople
can be fooled once or twice or brush-off a political no-no as a
mistake, but repeated offenses are quickly noted. Once a person has
crossed the line to the pest label, carrying the disease of unethical
and immoral politics, the perception is nearly impossible to change –
people can accept weaknesses if performance is poor, but once a
supervisor cannot trust the integrity of an employee and finds that
they are a pest, it is very difficult to unravel. People see quickly
who is playing bad politics and will quickly brand those people as
pests – including bosses and supervisors. Bad politics may include
lying and cheating, character assassinations and other unwholesome
games to usurp power, etc. This is because you can only practice
dirty politics once or at the most twice and you will be quickly
found out and branded as a pest. Either you will be condemned forever
or you will be fired if caught for playing such malicious games. So,
although we can learn from the strong survivability of the rat, we
can also learn from the rat that playing dirty politics can brand you
for life as a pest and leave you without any ability to survive the
office jungle!
This is a lesson that cannot be stressed enough. Those who play dirty politics will eventually die by the sword. Playing unethically in the office has the same results as playing dirty politics on the world political stage. The election saga of Anwar Ibrahim in Malaysia is a good example of the backlash that is generated when unethical politics are played. In Malaysia, the Barisan Nasional (BN) party under Dr Mahathir accused Anwar Ibrahim, the candidate of the opposition party of sodomy, arrested him and tried to paint him as an immoral villain. However, the voters clearly saw through the desperate ploy and voted near unanimously for Anwar, making him the leader of the Malaysian opposition.
However, we’re not here to talk the world political stage (although it makes great examples). We’re here to talk real-corporate examples. So, here’s one. It’s about an acquaintance of mine, Aiko, who couldn’t wait to get to the top, so much so that he started playing dirty and his survival was very much in question.
Aiko’s Story
Aiko had approached the work world with avarice and attacked it as if it were prey and he the predator. He earned his way to the top, attaining an executive position working with a firm he had dreamed of working with throughout his career. Aiko was so happy with his position and his rise to power was so quick, he missed a critical lesson – ethics. When it came time to assign contracts to consultants, he chose those firms in which he had invested his personal money or which were run by his close friends.
The local news media learned that although Aiko had never taken a bribe, he had given lucrative contracts to his friends and firms in which he had invested. The stories were all over the news media for several weeks. Aiko’s board of directors fired him within a month, releasing the contracts he had signed and hiring a new executive officer before Aiko even realized exactly what was going on.
In Aiko’s situation, it is clear to see that unethical office politics is truly unacceptable. Perhaps Aiko could have made his ascent to the top, albeit a little slower but held onto it for much longer if only he had played clean politics and kept all the dealings “above the table.”
Likewise, an animal which steps outside of the bounds of their role is either eaten, shunned from their group and therefore doomed to death, or starved for lack of food. This is the case with the king of the jungle – the lion. If a young male takes it into his mind to attack the leader of the group or takes advantage of the females when they do not wish to mate, the older male will often chase the young male from the den, forcing it into a life of solitude and possible starvation. Even monkeys, our closest animal-relative, will cast-out a member if they are too forward with the female monkeys, steal young or food, or even if they simply step outside of the appropriate behavioral patterns.
To sharpen this point, we can look to the snake. The snake is the most despicable player within the jungle. Not only do they prey on the young, old and defenseless animals, they sneak and steal resources from other animals. They do not protect their young and are vicious creatures. Snakes will sneak into another animal’s den such as the prairie-dog and not only eat the young, but will take the den for its own, leaving the prairie-dog with no shelter. Snakes have also been known to eat their young, kill their mates, and attack each other without regard to the social behavior that other species exhibit. As a result, the snake leads a solitary life, meeting other snakes only during the mating season and avoiding all contact except with their meals.
Similarly, there are those people who hog resources for themselves, lie, cheat and steal – clawing their way to the top without a thought for the others around them. These people not only bring disrespect and enmity to themselves, but also to the firm at which they work. Not only do bosses know these snakes in the grass, customers know them too. And snakes don’t survive in the same skin very long – they are always shedding their skin and thereby making themselves vulnerable. The people who portray the snake in the concrete jungle are always in the process of having to shed their skins and often will find themselves in hostile situations from which they cannot survive and thus lose their jobs. Imagine continually having to switch roles and re-invent oneself on a near-continual basis. What an abysmal life that would be.
Yes, sometimes office politics are unsavory, but playing is required if you want to survive, especially in a recession environment. All you must do is look around yourself at those who have gone before you or are with you now in the office-ecosystem and see the truth: if you don’t play the political game, you get played out and you won’t survive.
Think about the last person who was passed-over for a promotion. Maybe it’s you or someone you know. Maybe it’s just someone who you heard about. What did they do wrong? I bet if you took a very honest look at the situation, you would find that the person that lost out on the promotion, performance being equal, is simply not as good at playing office politics as the one that was promoted. If you desire to move up in your organization and defy the difficult economic times by keeping your career on-track, playing the political game is critical.
Keep in mind that the need to succeed exists throughout a career, however during times of a particularly stressed economy, this need becomes far more paramount to maintaining one’s employment. In economically difficult times, corporations have to tighten belts and trim the fat to help stabilize their own operations. They may do this through price increases to consumers, or reductions of overhead expenses, but most often, corporations trim budgets through trimming personnel resources.
You must step-up your game in order to succeed. No one is invincible from these cuts. High-level supervisors, whole departments, and especially those that do not excel at the office politics game and performance are all vulnerable.
Take my friend Chyou for example.
Chyou’s Story
Chyou, an engineer in a firm of 2,000+, decided to ask for a change in her work-hours when she had her first child. The company touted that they were a “family business,” but when hard times came and a downturn in the economy occurred, Chyou still wanted to maintain her focus on her family. At the same time, Chyou didn’t focus on the core competencies she had and began to ignore the politically charged environment around her in the office. Chyou continued down this path of ignoring the outside world and would take every opportunity during the day that required socialization to throw-in a comment about focusing on her family.
While other people in the office would stay late, take the boss to lunch and stepped-up their game with regard to the political game, Chyou sat in her office and worked hard, never remembering to leave her office occasionally and work on her image with the office. After a few months, she had been routed from her high-standing in her boss’s eyes and he asked her to leave during the second round of layoffs. Chyou could have saved her position if only she had paid attention to the changing environment around her. Her lack of attention to office politics lost her a job, and perhaps her career because it will be very difficult for her to get another position during these economically difficult times. And having followed-up with Chyou, I have since discovered that she has lost some of her self-worth and is now having difficulties in her home life. If only she had paid attention to the political needs in her office, perhaps she could have saved herself a lot of heartache.
He
who will not economize will have to agonize.
~ Confucius
Illustration 27
Chyou’s inability to change in the economically distressed times made her vulnerable and she failed to survive the concrete jungle. This is very similar to the animal’s need to be successful during times of environmental difficulty such as drought or famine. Animals store food for the winter or build-up fat to sustain them through hibernation. Animals change their watering-holes if their normal one dries-out. Animals change with the season and the changes around them. And they will move to a greener pasture if the pasturage is lacking – or simply if that is part of their nomadic style.
Our survival in the corporate environment is the same. If you become stagnant and refuse to acknowledge the political game around you, your likelihood of success just dropped to near nothing. This is becoming more and more true as the economic situation becomes more grim. The corporate environment is ever-changing and you must keep raising the bar to succeed. And do not believe that you can escape the office politics jungle – no one escapes, and if you refuse to play, you get played out and will be eaten alive!
What makes you think you can escape the office politics jungle?!
Many executives naively think that they can remain apolitical and still survive. This may have been the case several years ago when our grandfathers were CEO’s and jobs were secure, but that is simply not the case now. Each generation since the 1960’s has pushed the boundaries further and further until we look at the workforce now and see a very different face with very different goals than previous years. And as each new generation enters the workforce, we see more and more how abstaining from playing office politics can really affect a career.
That is not to say that this push is coming just from the young workers in the world, because it is a stream of thought from the marketplace and the tightening economy that is causing this shift toward office politics, too. Because each industry within each country and each economy of each country is intertwined with its twins in other countries, we are seeing entire shifts in thinking not just across a business or a firm, but across our entire civilization. This paradigm shift has affected each of us in a personal way that you may or may not recognize.
F
or
example, have you ever shopped on the internet because it was
convenient? Have you ever eaten at a fast-food restaurant because it
was convenient? Have you ever hired someone to do something that you
could do, but you just didn’t want to (like cleaning your house,
doing your laundry or walking your dog)? If you answered yes to any
of these questions, you are part of a movement toward a
more-convenient lifestyle, quite contrary to the lifestyles of old.
Just think about those same questions and how your grandfathers or even fathers would have answered when they were at the same place you are in your career. I know that my father would have answered: What’s the internet? Fast-food, yuk! and No! He didn’t do things for their convenience. Why, that would have been contrary to the “right” way to do things in his way of thinking.
The main reason why office politics is intensifying is not clear – it is certainly due to many factors, but some that come to mind on the forefront leading the change include the rapid changes in the companies around us in response to the shorter and shorter boom and bust cycles. As a result, there is little or no job security left in the market for the majority of people. In order to survive, one needs to make a positive impression quickly. No one will know how you perform if you do not immediately take the opportunity and exhibit your own personal strengths. By stepping-up and being an advocate for your career you take with you the chance that no one will ever know the impact you can make in your business. And because bosses are human, carrying-on with their own lives, they are too busy to realize your worth over the long-term if you do not make it known. Additionally, younger executives are ambitious, stepping over those that may not move as quickly because they want to rise up as fast as possible. You must compete with them all in this office-jungle of the new-age.
The workplace has evolved and as a result, we need to change with it – or be played out during this most recent economic downturn.
The
office has become a complex ecosystem rife with politics which must
be navigated on a daily basis. If you believe that you aren’t
affected by them, you’re just plain wrong. And if you believe that
you can survive (much less thrive) without playing them (and playing
them well), you’re also just plain wrong. Everyone is affected and
everyone is responsible for themselves. You must wake-up and realize
– you must play office politics.
If you do not play office politics, you will be eaten alive. There is no other way to view it. The office world today is too intricate of a machine to not see that it is fueled by office politics.
And though you might decide to ignore office politics, it will not ignore you. You must be an advocate for your career and do what you must if you want to survive. If you now stay out of office politics, step back and take a look at yourself and be honest. Ask yourself these questions:
Is your position stable?
Are you respected within your firm?
Does your leadership ask for your opinion before taking action?
Are you upwardly mobile?
Do you work well within a team?
If you can truthfully answer all of these questions affirmatively, you can feel free to throw this book in the trash (although there may be some valuable lessons for even you in this book). But if you answered negatively to even one of these questions, you are not playing the office politics game well – and ignoring it for any longer may get you played out.
So, how do you dig yourself out of the situation you’ve gotten yourself into? It may not be very easy given how long you’ve either avoided playing the game or how poorly you’ve been playing. Taking the lessons of this book, and perhaps picking up a few others may give you some tips for being more successful, but by no means is there a perfect book for your situation. You must learn how to build an arsenal of tools from which you can pull ideas on a continual basis. Only then can you know that you are playing at the best of your abilities.
And if the situation changes, don’t panic. There will be many changes throughout your career. If you panic at the dawning of each, you will spend much of your life having anxiety and will never learn how to be calm and sure of yourself. So, read-on and learn how to attack change and how to prepare yourself for the possibilities that lie ahead. Take a message from what the animals can teach us and learn to play the game of office politics.
If you need a little push to decide that playing the game can be better than ignoring its existence, listen to the story my friend Aran had to tell.
Aran’s Story
Aran came to work every day and left everyday on time. He did what he was asked to do and was more than happy to interact with someone if they instigated it. But his actions were very focused on getting the job done, and not interacting with those people in the office. Although he was pleasant to work with, he definitely didn’t play to the office politics. Aran was well known to be a hard worker and managed his projects well, but those people that worked for him were not recognized, he wasn’t recognized and when he got passed-over for an important promotion, the realization came to him – he was just not playing office politics, and had therefore missed-out!
Aran was furious with himself. He was smart, how did he miss this crucial lesson? So, he decided to take a new approach. Over the next few months, he watched what his more-successful counterparts did and how they behaved. He picked those activities that he preferred and liked what they did, and mirrored them. He singled-out those behaviors that they did that he disliked and he removed them from his own playlist.
The change was slow, but it was evident to Aran that the perception in the office toward him was changing. The people that worked on his team were working harder for him because he was freer with praise. The other team-leaders that he worked with asked him for his opinion more often. And when an executive level meeting was called at the end of the year, Aran was invited! Aran was thrilled to see that truly there had been changes in his behavior that had effected change in his status within the office. Following the big meeting with the executives, Aran was promoted to their number. “We had wanted to do this for a while,” he was told, “You seemed to have potential, but something was just holding us back.” Aran knew that what had been holding them back had now changed and he was now a truly successful player of the office political game.
Aran’s lesson is that you can change your perception within the office. You can motivate others to rely on your judgment, you can change their view of you, and you can promote yourself through playing the game well. Now, there are no guarantees in life and surely, even if we play office politics, there can still be that occasional hiccup which lands us in a sticky situation. But if we acknowledge that there are only nebulous defeats and indefinable victories, we can accept them all as victories in learning a lesson in how to do it better the next time. However, it is up to you to apply the lessons and play the game. And because you are competing with each and every one of your co-workers, you are your own responsibility, and must be an advocate for your own career.
And your advocacy for your career must infuse every part of your work-day. You must focus not on the immediate alone, but also the greater picture – but don’t forget the immediate situation while you focus on the future. Each year, each week, each day, each hour and each interaction requires all of the attention and focus you can provide it in order for you to succeed.
Influences of Office Politics in Person-to-Person Interaction
While you must focus on all of the goals within your career, you must start with each interaction, as they will be the building blocks for the rest of your career goals. And there may be many interactions throughout a day, much less a week or year that you might encounter – as many as there are people within your office!
Just as there are many people who work together in your corporation, the jungle is full of animals of a wide variety. A look at our interactions and the similarity of animal interactions can really illustrate how similar we are to our animal friends. And by viewing how similar we are, we can look to the animals to reveal how our innate instincts might be of use in day-to-day interactions.
We can break-down our interactions (and our animal brethrens’ interactions) into three categories: Confrontational, Friendly, and Routine. By taking a look at each of these three interaction types and how some animal friends react similarly to the human species, we can see how helpful taking ideas from the animal world might be.
Confrontational interactions can be described best by a quick synopsis from the corporate jungle:
Two co-workers, vying for the same promotion, must compete for their bosses’ accolades to secure the desirable position. Although the fight is not as bloody in visual terms, the fight can be terribly vicious, and the outcome just as uncertain. One co-worker may tell the boss how poorly the other guy performed on a task, while the other co-worker does the same. In a situation like that, no one can win.
We are finding that as the economy begins to falter and resources such as jobs and funding become more and more scarce, these situations are coming up far more frequently. This is no surprise as animals will often turn to violence as well when resources get scarce.
L
et’s
take the same two co-workers, turn them into gazelles and see how the
interaction changes by moving from the corporate jungle to the real
jungle.
Two
male gazelles find that they both lust after the same particularly
attractive young-lady gazelle. The fight is on! The older, more
seasoned gazelle fights the younger, more virile gazelle.
Ultimately, one will win, however, the confrontation can be both
bloody and the outcome uncertain. Often, both combatants may come
away with mortal wounds, or wounds which make them too vulnerable to
a predatory attack.
Now, let’s step back and see what might have happened to avert this disastrous situation. Certainly, most of the time, gazelles will never come to full blows. If they come close, it’s in marking territory or in taking stances in front of one another. Sometimes, office battles can be won in the same manner. It may be all about posturing and making the scene right for you to ensure a battle-victory. Consider taking the high-road and not complaining in order to get a higher-victory – not looking like a whiner to your boss!
The friendly interaction takes on a very different tone in the concrete jungle. One example of this type of interaction would be:
One project manager has won a bid for a big project which is far too man-hour intensive for his team to complete within the given schedule. So, she approaches her colleague, another project manager with too little to keep his team profitable for the short period of time which, conveniently, the big project is due. The two project managers broker a deal – she’ll give his team some additional work from the big project, keeping them profitable, and he in return will provide her with the personnel to complete the project on time.
These types of interactions may become fewer as the economy begins to worsen. It is my advice that you take every opportunity to enjoy and make the most of friendly interactions you might have in this recession era.
Similarly, the real jungle has friendly interactions. For example, if our two executives are now department heads of different types of groups – a den of lions and a pack of hyenas, the interaction would go something like this:
While wandering the jungle, the hyena comes upon a kill that the lion recently took down – and that the lion is still eating. Although the lion and the hyena are both predators and both salivate over the thought of the warm gazelle steak at their feet, the hyena backs-off. The hyena will wait patiently, biding its time, until the lion has had his fill. When the lion is done and has left the scene, the hyena will eat his fill, too.
This interaction may not seem overly friendly, but indeed it is about as friendly as one can get in the jungle. Certainly, it is this type of partnership that has kept the hyena alive for many years – they are scavengers first, then hunters. And the relationship is good, too for the lion, because the presence of the hyena keeps other scavengers from bothering the lion. In a way, the hyena guards the lion’s back while the lion eats – although from the hyena’s perspective, he is just protecting his meal until the lion is done!
The office can be viewed in the same manner – although you may not see the advantage in sharing work or in helping another team, there is always advantage to be had in getting someone’s favor for a future use!
The final, and most frequent of interactions are known as routine interactions. The routine is not just the “every-day” but also those interactions where there is no attack and no friendly behavior. In the office environment, the following would be an example of this type of behavior:
When two executives of equal authority, with no previous history of positive or negative interaction find themselves in the same conference room, they acknowledge one another and behave in a congenial manner. They may nod to each other or discuss a topic, but the interaction is simply congenial. At the end of the meeting, neither of the executives will walk away with a new friend or enemy, if there is no confrontation.
As the economy continues its downward spiral, we may find that these types of situations become more stressed and begin to turn into more confrontational than routine. It will be your responsibility as a participant in these types of interactions to maintain a cool head and behave rationally.
Our animal brethren also have routine interactions in which neither animal is required to react in any way save congeniality. A good example would be the interaction between the elephant and the hippopotamus.
The elephant herd goes to the watering-hole to get a drink. There, a hippopotamus is playing in the water. Although they both acknowledge the other’s presence, they do nothing. They have no need to fight as they share resources such as the watering hole well and they have no reason to react positively to one another. When done, the elephant leaves and the hippopotamus changes nothing, as long as no confrontation occurs.
It is highly unlikely that confrontation would occur in either this office situation or this jungle situation. In both, there is no reason for a fight or reason to be friends. If there is no favor to be won, and no fight to be fought, then the interaction is just routine.
When to be defensive and when to take the offense
By taking a look at how similarly animals and people react in their respective jungles, we can take a cue from the animals if we are trying to remember our own animal instincts regarding interactions with each other. And it is these animal interactions that we’re trying to remember – just those things that we have innately within ourselves, but that are hiding deep inside.
Although there are three types of interactions, each type can only be approached in two different manners: Defensive and Offensive.
Defensive mechanisms are used when someone is looking to attack you, which, if you are like me, you assume this is likely to be the case all the time. A good defense can keep you from being in an offensive position later. But offensive mechanisms have their place, too. The offensive stances can carry you through a battle and ensure that you survive. Since each has its place in the concrete jungle, we’ll explore both and their appropriate uses.
Let’s look at the most popular methods of defensive maneuvering: Strong Work Ethic, Working in a Team, and Avoiding Confrontation.
Strong Work Ethic
A
strong work ethic is the basis for success, take our friends the
beavers for example. The beaver works hard all year long to build a
little den in which to raise his young. But because he works so
hard, his “little den” blocks rivers and becomes dams which can
change the entire ecosystem of the water body. Imagine
any other animal (besides the human with a bull-dozer) that can
effect such massive change. If you can re-route a river without a
bull-dozer, give it a shot, but the beavers do it every day.
This strong work ethic pays-off for the beaver. Not only do they get a nice place to raise the baby-beavers that has a lake-side view, they also have a warm place with clean drinking water and easy fish to catch. It’s all a fantastic dream, and all because the beaver insists on working hard to build and maintain his little dam.
Working in a Team
T
here
is security in numbers, working with a team is always better, as the
monkeys easily illustrate. The monkey, be it chimpanzee, gorilla, or
spider monkey always works in a team to find food, shelter or to
protect themselves from enemies. This is key, since the individual
monkey is easy prey for many a predator, has a hard time finding
adequate amounts of food and may or may not be able to find good
shelter.
This safety in numbers method becomes extremely clear when we look
to the social grooming nature of the monkey. All monkeys are fairly
well known for grooming one another. This keeps ticks and other
disease-carrying pests from invading each monkey’s personal space,
and these same bugs provide a source of protein for the groomer. If
this type of behavior did not exist, monkeys would be a population of
diseased animals as opposed to one of the most successful species on
the planet.
Avoiding Confrontation
The last popular defensive maneuver is avoiding unnecessary confrontation. Often, in the jungle, this is accomplished by simply waiting until the time is right. Look at our friend the hyena that we talked about previously, he waited until the time was right to get the food the lion so conveniently left behind – and he didn’t even really have to work for it! By avoiding the potential confrontation, the hyena not only avoided the injury he surely would have received from the fight the lion would give him, but he also was able to eat in relative peace, knowing that the nearby lion and his den were satiated. Unfortunately, the hyena does have to compete with other hyenas and other scavengers. However, since he knows that to be patient and wait will produce a good result (his full stomach), he will often avoid confrontation with the lion, a fight he will surely lose.
In the concrete jungle, our defensive attitudes can often turn out better than confrontation might have. My friend Mitsuho learned this lesson.
Mitsuho’s Story
Mitsuho worked hard, taking every opportunity to increase his department’s productivity by increasing efficiency and effectiveness. He would stay late to ensure that a deliverable would make it to the client by the due date. And he integrated himself into a team of like-minded department leaders, asking them for advice and sharing his own regarding similar projects and tasks. Then, one day, one of his co-workers, a guy a few years older than him and with far more skills at the office politicking game, slighted Mitsuho.