Office Politics - Undesirable necessity

Office politics – undesirable necessity.

When I start my day hearing someone cribbing as to how his female boss and the superboss (boss’ boss) were discussing the color of the saris and shapes of the earrings, and he had to sit and bear this un-necessary chatter, and to which someone responds as …”a necessity if you want to grow within the organization”, I can’t help but make the comment, which forms a heading to this random musing.

Since, we are at the heading, let me offer an explanation to its meaning, before reader plunge into making conjectures and judgments about its desirability and necessity. Politics is a sum-total of human behavior when they interact with each other, how they react and counter-react to each other, and so a congregation of even a couple of human beings will bring into a political situation. So, when there are a number of human beings dealing with each other, a political situation, or rather a series of political situations is inevitable. However at the same time, politics has become to represent “dirty politics”, and it is to that effect that it is undesirable. Having laid to rest any doubts about the topic, I can now come on to the body of this musing, and pen down my thoughts.

The boss orders a pizza, and your colleague collects it and delivers it to your boss, despite the fact that he was not required to do the same (a couple of peons were dozing off). Sounds familiar? Yes.

You’re in the middle of a heated discussion with your boss, and your view is on the opposite pole of what your boss is saying. Suddenly, a colleague jumps in, supporting your boss, condensing what he is saying, and the fat fool of your boss welcomes this support, sending your argument to tatters. Sounds familiar?

Ok, you are hereby certified as a victim of dirty office politics, inflicted on you by your colleague. Is it correct? What can you do about it? What are the options available to you?

As I mentioned at the very beginning politics by itself is inevitable, it is the dirty politics that should be abhorred, and is not correct. I have seen good people leaving companies, having been unable to bear this burden of constant pain, and a regular stream of insults being thrown at them, while their “bootlickers” colleagues continue to rise above the corporate ladder. Figure this happening at all levels, and the situation shall not be very different from what we see around us – a flock of talented people leaving the companies, switching from one place to another, getting increasingly frustrated initially from their companies, then the whole corporate concept, and increasingly from their own lives, slowly becoming what they abhorred once. While at the same time, incompetent people continue to rise, due to their skills of being politically correct, nodding their heads to whatever comes their way – increasingly frustrating the talented task-force.

Is this correct? Ask a I-swear-by-(dirty)-office-politics guy and he will tell you there’s nothing wrong about this – “I am paid by my boss”, “He is like this only”, “He does the same”, yadda, yadda, yadda. Yes, It has helped him rise, but just because it helps him and because everyone else around him does the same, doesn’t make him correct, or his politics. So, he is wrong. Great, but you’re suffering in the office, your work life is affecting your personal and family life – In short, it satisfies you that you’re correct but you’re not going anywhere, your life is stagnant in doldrums. So, what can you do?

Watch a game of wrestling, learn and apply that high impact DDT or a sick tombstone, or since that your colleague is only fatter than he is dirty, apply that body breaking German suplex. Ok, I was kidding. This is not a solution. So, what can you do? Leave your company? You did that 6 months and 23 days back, due to the same reason, and nobody knows if the situation may turn out to be the same in the new place also.

What are the options available? A look at the various websites and the counselor’s words will tell you that you should let your work speak for you, keep the colleague out of your work and your life, and ignore him to death. A little bit of politics is necessary and you need to up yourself but not at the expense of lowering anybody else, most importantly yourself – See, you haven’t sold yourself to anyone. These are really sound advices, I tell you, all tried-and-tested-and-applied effectively, across time and places, or so it seems. However, these are good and a sound measure to keep your career in check, but, only if your boss is apolitical or, your colleague is not out and out dirty.

But, god forbid, if that’s the case, you need to be a little more steely – No, you still don’t have to apply those suplexes, DDTs, and tombstones still, but a little more resoluteness, and a more resolute talk with your colleague/boss might help, or even if that doesn’t work out, a heart to heart talk with the superboss (remember the first paragraph), should help. If not, it is the right time to update and fortify that face of yours known as your CV and send it flying across to the various employers, and recruitment consultants, and visit the holy places as per your beliefs, to start praying that the new place doesn’t turn out to be like this one, and to try to move out of the stifling environment. All the best to all such unlucky souls, may a new job land in your laps, relieving you of the mire of problems in your work life.