Hmm,I chanced upon this not long ago and find that Hollywood has been quite partial to the Hackers. So many movies have been made on it.
June, 2009
While none of these next 20 movies depicts the true motions of computer hacking, most of these stories are memorable in some way. Most are good escapist fun. Some are visually stunning. A few of these movies are even powerful social commentaries. No, you won't learn secret root command lines or packet sniffing by renting these films, folks. But if you want some entertaining DVD rentals involving computers and crime, here are the 20 Best Hacker Movies...(In no particular order, as voted on by a panel of opinionated About.com judges:)
20) The Net (1995)Sandra Bullock plays a software engineer who loses her identity to digital thieves. Filmed during the fanatic years of the then-novel World Wide Web, this film is now cliched. Nevertheless, fans of Sandra Bullock will still enjoy watching this B movie.
19) Takedown (2000)This is the sensationalized story of famous phone phreaker, Kevin Mitnick. This is a cult classic that is very hard to find in rental stores.
18) Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)This is the flawed storytelling of how Apple and Microsoft came to be. While this movie got mixed reviews, many people have commented they loved it. Three dollars at your video store, and you can decide for yourself if this was a good film.
17) The Matrix (1999)This was such a groundbreaking adventure in reality and existentialism. No, you will not learn how to break into a Linux server by watching Trinity port-scanning with "nmap". But this movie is definitely cool, nonetheless.
16) Hackers (1995)Well, this story was really weak, and the hacking scenes were nowhere near reality. But you have to watch this just to say you did. Plus: Angelina Jolie is reason enough for some males to rent this.
15) The Conversation (1974)While you won't see computers in this classic film, the theme of surveillance and the violation of people's privacy is so masterfully explored here. **Related movie: The Conversation was re-imagined as Will Smith's Enemy of the State in 2001. The 2001 treatment of the story was designed as a modern techno thriller, and has some tremendous special effects and satellite surveillance sequences. Having Gene Hackman star with Will Smith makes it worth the price of a DVD rental.
14) Antitrust (2001)This movie has some strong points about it. Two idealistic computer whiz kids graduate from Stanford, and one of them enters the world of private sector programming. Sure enough, these two programmers find themselves in the middle of cybercrime scandals. Definitely worth renting for three bucks.
13) Real Genius (1985)There is only about 5 minutes of actual "hacking" in this comedy, where Laslo "brute-forces" his way into the defense network, and Kent and Mitch do phone bugging. But there are laughs aplenty in this fun B movie. Definite smile factor if you like playful and quirky humor movies.
12) Mission Impossible (1996)While many people no longer like Tom Cruise, his first MI movie did have I.T. and computer hacking sequences. Some good action, too.
11) The Thirteenth Floor(1999)A very extreme version of "The Sims", this movie is about scientists who create a virtual world where participants plug in and take over a computer character's life. The characters are unaware of their puppet existence, but then a real life murder shakes the foundation of the game.
10) Swordfish (2001)Over-the-top violence, preposterous situations, sexy women, and outstanding special effects make this a great popcorn rental. No, don't bring your brain to watch this, but if you like techno-thrillers, definitely rent this. John Travolta is the slimy villain, Hugh Jackman is the studly hero hacker, and Halle Berry is the mysterious damsel.
9) The Italian Job (2003)Modern heist movies always involve some sort of hacking. This particular heist movie is extremely entertaining, especially when the supposed true inventor of "Napster" is the main hacker. At least 20 minutes of hacking footage in this actioner. Definitely worth renting if you haven't seen it.
8) Foolproof (2003)A lower-budget movie about hobby bank robbers, this was a delightful surprise to many viewers. Ryan Reynolds and his friends "virtually" rob banks for fun, but are blackmailed into doing a heist for real. This is a good action rental.
7) eXistenZ (1999)A David Cronenberg film, this is the creepiest entry in the list. A game designer creates an artificial reality game that plugs directly into people's minds. The line between reality and game then blurs in a violent and gruesome way. This is very much a powerful art film, and not for everyone.
6) The Score (2001)Edward Norton and Robert De Niro are fabulous in this heist flick. In a clever plot to rob a Montreal customs house of some royal artifacts, Norton and De Niro must break into the security systems with the help of a socially-awkward hacker who lives in his mother's basement. Ten minutes of hacking, and 100 minutes of phenomenal robbery storytelling!
5) Sneakers (1992)While dated, this movie was groundbreaking at the time, and is still charming to this day. The story revolves around two college buddies who take different paths in life. One becomes an ethical hacker, and the other...well, he is not quite so noble. Some great plot twists and comic scenes make this a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon at home.
4) Revolution OS (2001)This documentary tells the story about the Linux operating system, and how it forwarded the philosophy of "open source" and free intellectual property. Not an action movie, but definitely interesting for people who want to learn more about why computer culture is the way it is. If you can find a copy of this, definitely rent it.
3) Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard (2007)Leave it to Bruce Willis to save the world from uber hackers. Macintosh advertising personality, Justin Long, plays the reluctant programmer caught up in an digital terrorism scheme. Like Swordfish, this movie has over-the-top violence and outrageous action sequences, but if you liked the Die Hard series, definitely see this .
2) Wargames (1983)Yes, this movie is very old, but it is still a pivotal film in many viewers' minds. A young man finds a back door into a military computer that is linked to the nuclear defense grid of the United States. A preposterous plot, but a compelling commentary on nuclear war and the destruction of the human race. You have to see this movie just to say you have seen it.
1) Tron (1982)A classic! A hacker is transported into the digital universe inside a computer, and must survive combat as a cyber gladiator in order to stop the villanous Master Control. The imagination behind this movie made big ripples in the science fiction world, and today, Tron is a cult classic that every computer user should see at least once.
**Special Mention - movies with hackers that almost made this top 20 list:
Jurassic Park (1993)
Untraceable (2008)
The Core (2003)
Lawnmower Man (1992)
Disclosure (1994)
Goldeneye (1995)
Virtuousity (1995)
One Point Oh (2004)
Superman III (1983)
Deja Vu (2006).
Taken from:
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/hacking101/a/hackermovies.htm
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Mizushima Hiro
I find that this actor quite charismatic though not striking at first impression. He is one of those who looks good on TV but not nice on photos.
A very hardworking actor. Like his dramas.
Here are some quite good ads that he took up.
like this one the most.
A very hardworking actor. Like his dramas.
Here are some quite good ads that he took up.
like this one the most.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Office Politics
I guess due to the long gruelling hours spend in the workplace,people developed a penchant for office politics. It is the modern day warfare location so as to speak. I believe that everyone has a bloodthirsty nature well hidden under the civilised,educated veneer. Some call it survival, I would say it is people's innate nature.
Office politics can develop into ugly piece of work that threaten the entire team. It harms relationships, leaving scars that people will never forget.
Here is some information I found online to solve this. Of coz this is not elixir or a single person's effort. It takes 2 hands to clap, isnt it?
How to avoid office politics
April 18, 2006 by admin Filed under best of, career, coaching, looking inward, management, productivity, tips and tricks, work life
40 Comments
Considering the source, you may just want to skip right past this post, since I’ve only paid attention to political maneueverings long enough to learn how to avoid them. I’m not much of a political player at work. A few years (and positions) ago, an older colleague of mine was regularly berating me (in a caring way) for not paying attention to the political process at work. I just didn’t have the stomach for it. Still don’t. Sometimes to my detriment, actually. But I’m cool with that–at least I can sleep at night. And I mean that literally. The craziest stuff will keep me awake, so staying non-political, at the very least, is a surefire way to ensure better sleep. I assume that folks who are political at work also sleep well…they just have a higher craziness tolerance than me.
The whyThe primary reason that I stay apolitical is that it takes up too much space and time, and I’ve already got enough things to worry about. Plus, I don’t get the sense that being political would appreciably contribute to my overall efficiency or productivity. So I stay out of it.
The howThis is both simple and sublime. I strive to just be me. Here’s how, deconstructed and in no particular order:
Wear no mask. By “mask” I mean those identities that we assume in order to fit in better, feel more comfortable in a situation, or get people to loosen up around us. I don’t do it. Some folks think it’s a good idea to change like a chameleon to suit the situation. I think that’s a recipe for disaster. I try to be me, all the time. The guy that walks into your office is the same guy that walks into your colleague or boss’s office. One face, no mask.
Be transparent. Not invisible, just without guise. All my agendas are clearly visible. You want to know what I think? I’ll tell you. The words I say might make one or both of us uncomfortable, but I’ll do my best to soften them without diluting their truth.
Flex and bend. Rigidity is a sign of rigor mortis. I strive to be flexible and willing to hear opposing points of view. Defending a lame position for any reason is, well, lame. I don’t assume I’m the smartest person in the room, and I generally take the opinions of others at face value (this is where being apolitical can be painful, but only in the short term).
Listen to ‘em. This helps with the flex and it helps with the ‘no mask’ thing. Learning to really listen is dangerous to my status quo. Truly listening means I’m extending myself beyond my own boundaries, at my risk and for the benefit of the other. It’s hard to do if you’re unwilling to be transformed.
Park the ego. This is a difficult one (and probably is for everyone), but it’s essential for me. When my ego gets wrapped up in the work, it’s too easy to start defending those lame positions mentioned earlier.
Forget the empire. I don’t want to be an empire builder. I’ve got my responsibilities and I attend to them. If I acquire an empire, I’ll probably never notice.
No gossip. I fail too often at this one. Gossip is talking about stuff that you haven’t confirmed as true. Unfortunately I slip into gossip mode too often, and I think it’s because I’m so willing to talk things out. Though censorship is a sign of politics, ironically a little greater control over the internal censor is probably well advised.
Focus on it. What’s the business issue at hand? Focus on it. Straight outta Druckerland. The key is to be sure I’m not being myopic about the issue I’m focusing on. Sometimes the issue is broader than my current focus.
Apologize later. As opposed to asking permission first. This is really just a corollary, but the willingness to act first instead of asking permission sometimes helps me avoid other people’s political quagmires.
All of the above is really what I do. I think it’s just a tad ironic that I have a plan to avoid being political, but my plan basically boils down to being consistently authentic. Seems to work pretty well.
Some more advice.
For backstabbers poking at you,it is best to stay low profile and wait till everything is over. There is no point in leaving the place as this will bring joy to the backstabbers and you will lose something along the way. If you react, you are the loser.try to keep ur mind out of such activity and just try to identify who is your Actual frd and who can help you come out of it as the situation in which you are you can not trust anyone as you would be taken for granted for anything you say.I would also suggest to give a stren look whenever you think that someone is playing dirty as the Look will warn the opposite person and will keep couple of things under Control.Hope this helps you to have an work approach and pls pls dont just quit your job because of this reason as Office Politics exist every where and you just cant keep running away from it and Its fun to Face the Challenges than Hide Away.Trying to run through the situation keeping my head cool and trying to keep off all the political issues. No idea how long it will take to clear things out!my first advice to you will be DONT REACT. do not drown your self in self pity which is the worst thing you could do to yourself.you as an individual are destined for far more better things in life than to be bothered by these petty individuals (so called friends). As of now do not think of these things . It will only spoil your mental & physical health. Secondly when you dont react & just do your work & go home the very people who were making you the target will start wondering " What's wrong with this guy" he does'nt react at all. These are petty individuals who dont have any work & as very rightly said IDLE MIND IS A DEVIL's WORKSHOP. These people by the time they realise this would have ended up digging their own grave.First of all analyse the situation & if you feel that you have reached the saturation point in this organisation then it is time for you to move on my friend.Update your resume firstdo not take a hasty decision.find out how much are your talents in this field worth outside ?Be assertive & believe in your self.Things will come to you automatically!!!! You will have the last laugh on these people!!!All the very best to you & once again do not get bogged down by these trivial matters. It will be there in any organisations you go but the levels are different!!!!
You are not the only victim. there are many innocent persons who lose materially and even go to jail for no fault of theirs. So you will have to analyse your situation very carefully. Here are certain tips.
1.prospect in modern life is believed to be the gift of CCD(creativity, crookedness and dhithissm). Observe who is having these traits to what extent.
2. The personality types:
a. joota chatoo.means a boot licker. He/she can do and undo anything for someone in power for gain. He/she has no other value except acqisition of gain.
b.kudkudau, means a grumbler. He/she just goes on grumbling. It is not possible on his/her part to alter the situation.
c.kamar kasu,means waist tightner. He/she revolts against the status quo and thinks that he/she can establish justice and order of his/her liking.
d.rambharasu, means who accepts the situation as given by Ram and enjoys as it is.
e.bahkau, means one who is able to set a person in motion against one's self or others very cunningly like Shakuni.
f.bhadkau means one who is capable of disintegrating an integrated group.and
g.bidkau.means one who is capable of shattering an integrated group into pieces rendering it to nothingness.
Maintain appropriate distance depending upon their type.
3. Look into your demand characteristics.
our being and becoming is responsible for eliciting specific reactions in others. Those may be for or against. So please check up what are your demand characteristics which elicited such reactions in others and replace those demand characteristics at the earliest.
Are You the Victim of Office Politics?
The rat race. It's inescapable. It's a jungle out there and the big cats are forever sharpening their claws. Even if you make a conscious effort to stay out of the fray, it's almost impossible not to be sucked in.
There are lots of reasons why office politics exist. Re-creating family of origin roles (sorry for the shrink-ese). Feeling undermined at home and compensating at work. Adult bullies in the grown-up playground. Power hunger. It doesn't matter what the reasons are; it just plain sucks.
I used to work at a methadone clinic with a dozen, embittered, bitchy, middle-aged social workers and nurses. It was HELL. It was such a crazy system, I devised creative ways to stay sane in the midst of the collective lunacy (see How I drove my former boss crazy and rightly so).
Here are the basic office politics archetypes I've noticed through my work experiences. If you can think of any I'm missing, I'd love to read about them as comments:
The Ego Monster: They're right. They're always right. They have to be the smartest person in the room. Their ideas are the best and therefore the only ones that count. These are also the folks that pay the most lip service to "teamwork."
The Bully: They use verbal and intellectual (if they're capable of it) intimidation. They openly belittle others' ideas, work, dress, speech, etc., (with the exception of their immediate supervisor(s) and/or boss). The only way they can feel good about themselves is by putting others down.
The Climber: They have to be on top. It doesn't even really matter if the top position is a glory-less one. If there's a rung above them, they're going to climb it. They usually ascend by using the daggers they plunge in people's backsides as rappelling instruments.
Mr./Ms. Good Intentions: They're a variation of the Climber, but they disguise their agenda with "the best of intentions," smiling whilst they sharpen their oyster knives.
The Pilot Fish: They are the shameless suck-ups who hope that by suckling on the power teat, they'll be spared the attacks of the Bully and the Climber and curry favor with the Ego Monster.
The Innocent Bystander: This is the archetype to which I relate. I hate politics. Hate them. Basically, I just want to do the best job possible and leave me out of it, thank you. You can never stay out of it, not really. The system always finds a way to suck you in. Even working from home as a freelance whatever doesn't make you immune. Believe me, I tried this angle.
The crazy thing is, 20 years from now- when you're in a different job or retired- none of the things we rage, plot and scheme over at the office matters. Well, maybe if you're Albert Schweitzer or Madame Curie it does, but ultimately who gives a rat's a$$ how many widgets are sold or insurance policies opened? I don't.
So what can you do to survive? First, realize it's them, not you. Do you feel like you're going crazy at work? Up is down? Left is right? Day is night? Chances are you're in a crazy system. I've been there, calling my friends at night and incredulousy describing my day, hoping they'll give me a reality check. Never a good sign.
Second, buy, borrow, download or steal this book by Robert I. Sutton, Ph.D.: The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace or Surviving One That Isn't. I'd hoped Dr. Sutton would become a PeopleJam expert (hint, hint), but don't know what happened to that request.
Office politics is the hardest aspect of this life, especially if you are a fresher in this field. Like it or not, you will end up becoming a part of it and then it’s totally up to you how you deal with it and escape the trap.Here are 5 tips for the office, which can be a help for you in dealing with the taxing situation and finding your way out of the mess.1. Think before you act (or speak)2. Nurture the stakeholders3. Keep enemies close4. Imitate the successful5. Play the gameRead them in detail at Indystar and always remember that it is highly imperative to maintain you calm and keep a composed temper in all the situations. For, tension and panic does not better things but take them towards worse.
Dear Victim of Office Dysfunction,
Wow, if colleges are where you are supposed to learn, it’s sad to hear what you are learning, particularly about politics. Many people are not students of politics like you are, but merely day-dream in class and become even greater victims than you. You are at least surviving whereas many are axed, say the wrong thing to the wrong person when speaking truth to power (there’s a reason that the pioneers in many organizations are the ones with arrows sticking out!), or wind up in Organizational Siberia — that place that is so low on the food chain that everyone knows they are an “untouchable” in the caste system. So pat yourself on the back for recognizing the situation rather than being blind or living on that river in Egypt called “De Nile!”
DOUBLE-CHECK FREQUENCY OF “FREAK-ANCY”But before jumping to conclusions, are you SURE it ISN”T just a coincidence and that a majority of supervisors and managers are more humane and effective? So first triple check by networking to ask others, discussing the phenomenon confidentially with HR, observing patterns of people who leave and why, etc. If you can find another transfer to such a positive work climate, obviously, lobby for that move. Although you fear three job changes on your resume, that’s a lot less eyebrow raising than three different colleges, etc., since it’s easy to explain at future employers and less likely for you to be seen as a “bad apple.”
SOME ORGANIZATIONS ARE IN TIME MACHINESUnfortunately, you are right that often such abuse, power tripping, control, micro-managing, slave-driving, and crazy-making behavior is often tolerated by non-progressive companies and organizations, so there are no panaceas. At times it’s simply a matter of several “managers” (we refuse to call such neanderthals “leaders”) getting by in an organization because they produce results that are stellar, they bully people higher than them, and/or they have someone in their pocket in some way.
But it sounds like you are describing a more serious level of dysfunction in which it’s not a mere matter of a few people or the small unit of an “office” being counter-productive, rather an entire organizational culture. We fear this is true since you are describing more than one occurrence of similar behavior (your current control freak, slave-driver boss sound not much different from a micro-manager) AND Human Resources acknowledges the problem (“he’s up to his old tricks”) and yet does nothing to lobby for a more permanent solution, instead transferring you.
We can only assume it MAY not be a mere coincidence that you would up with another power tyrant supervisor, but instead, that your organizational culture attracts and breeds such old school, Theory X managers. Such obsolete approaches are reminiscent of managerial techniques from the Industrial Revolution days when Frederic Taylor did scientific studies of how to bleed every ounce of performance from people swinging an axe or pick at a precise angle for greater productivity per minute. Ugh!
CULTURE CHANGE IS TOUGH If culture wide power abuse, worker abuse, and toxicity permeate and is allowed, it may mean that it’s going to take wide-spread culture change to make a difference. It usually means that:(1) top management administration has an incredible blind spot to the damage to morale, employee and engagement, and ultimately performance due to employee resentment and slow-down or even sabotage,(2) management is actually consciously colluding to support such overly political people because they benefit in some way, and/or(3) this style of management is more innocent but just a part of a historic hierarchical, old-way, command-and-control style of managing.
Which options are the case at this college? If the problem IS symptomatic of a larger macro-organizational culture and way of existing, be realistic about your chances of changing the norms. While you might choose to lobby for support amongst peers, gather advocates through networking, and approaching HR and LINE MANGERS to join you in providing managerial training, communications development, an employee Bill of Rights, joint labor management committees to improve the climate, atmosphere and attitude surveys, etc. If the college has an Organizational Development and/or Employee Relations department, their specialty in addressing broad-scale work environment problems and tensions will equip them better than generalist HR departments as far as forging change. But be realistic. Barring new top management that sees the problem, clearly announces the end of the line for such white collar torture, we suggest that you recognize the nature of the beast. Culture change is slightly faster than a glacier in some places, though more promising in other settings. What’s your hunch for your educational institution?
HANG IN THERE (OR NOT)So continue putting feelers out, and meanwhile explore finding yet another manager, but why not do informal outreach yourself and proactively ask to be placed with a specific manager versus roll the dice and leave it up to HR? Secondly, remember in the words of the old 1960’s rock group, The Turtles, “It Ain’t Me, Babe!” Don’t take any of this treatment personally. Read the section from our Survival of the Savvy book called “Deactivate Your Political Buttons” in order to stay more calm, find mental techniques for not getting hooked, and for coping. You may or may not have the economic freedom to just leave without a job, but some people do start to weigh the health costs of an ulcer since your stomach may start keeping score.
If you must stay, work on YOU, find confidential supporters for some sort of “Dumped On Anonymous” group, but make sure it does not become public, that you do not gain a reputation of becoming a whiner, finding balance of how much to focus on this versus get the work done, and find other outlets for enjoyment. But it sure sounds like the hand-writing is on the wall.
Thanks for writing to Office-Politics.
Sincerely,
Rick Brandon, Ph.d. and Marty Seldman, Ph.D. Co-authors,Survival of the Savvy: High-Integrity Political Tactics for Career and Company Success
DEAR ANNIE: My boss is obviously disliked and not respected by his boss. The trouble is, his boss is the top guy in our division. This has a tremendous impact on the work I produce, since the big boss likes to find fault with everything the little boss and his team touch. This has already affected my pay and career prospects. Can I get around this? GOODBYE WITHOUT LEAVING
DEAR GWL: I love this "big boss" and "little boss" stuff--it's so Laurel and Hardy. But that brand of slapstick was no doubt way before your time, so here's the new kind: There's only one boss here, and guess who it is. It's you.
You can take your talent elsewhere, of course: a different division, a new company. But let's say you run into the same situation again--and you know, if you keep viewing the world in terms of "big" and "little" bosses, you really aren't going anywhere anyway. Instead, try thinking about what you have accomplished in very specific terms: Whom did it please? (The client, the audience, the tax accountants...) Why was it great? (What did they like about it? If you don't know, go find out.) How much money did it bring in? (If the answer is a negative number, stop right here.) And then: If I try to sell this someplace else, who will jump at it? Exclude "bosses" from your calculations. At this point, they don't count.
Nancy Friedberg, a career coach at the Five O'Clock Club in Manhattan who has heard your story many times, says this: "There are people watching you all the time--people in your business, your peers, your boss' peers, his boss' peers, your opposite number at some competing company. You may know who some of these people are right now, or you may not. But figure it out--and once you do, make sure you meet these people. And then don't talk about the weather."
Instead, come up with an eight-word summary of your best stuff, your latest triumph, your real interest (okay, the ideal is eight words, but 20 ain't bad), and get it out there--over lunch, in an elevator, at a conference, in a trade-association meeting. "Once you have built a reputation apart from your company, your company sees you as more valuable," says Friedberg. "And in fact, you are."
You won't need big and little bosses then, will you? One thing does lead to another. Life is so surprising.
Office politics is the use of one's individual or assigned power within an employing organization for the purpose of obtaining advantages beyond one's legitimate authority. – Wikipedia.
Office politics is inherent in the corporate world. Most of us view office politics in a negative light. No doubt, office politics involves dirt such as gossiping, malicious schemes of employees etc. You cannot detach yourself from office politics. You may not be involved directly but even lending an ear to such conversations, makes you a party to it. It's fun to gossip in office, but remember you can be a subject of it too. It does not take much time to become a victim to office politics. It is not a sin to indulge in politics but play it responsibly and do not seize the credit of others for your personal gains. If you are an avid player then tread your way carefully. Those who play politics irresponsibly often end up ruining their reputation. Loose participation can also lead to a sharp decline in your productivity chart. Here’s how to tackle the situation if you get caught in the circle of office politics.
Examine the situation and exercise your choice. Decide whether you want to fight the situation or let go of it.
Be focused on what you want to achieve. If it is the profitability of the organization or your work that will suffer, then disengage from petty differences.
Emerge as a winner by finding solutions to problems rather than complaining about the nature of situation.
Avoid taking sides in a conflict; instead facilitate open communication to earn the trust of both parties.
What goes around comes around. If there is a difference of opinion, do not get nasty or lose your temper. Your cool temperament will get awarded sooner or later.
Be a good listener and understand everyone's viewpoint. Do not judge any issue hastily.
Try your best to honestly sort out things. It is sensible to resolve problems rather than run away from them. Office politics is not a necessary evil as it could assist in the development of one's career. You need to be smart to use the opportunity which comes your way to climb the career ladder faster and with ease.
Namrata Ekka
Having dwelt in the corporate world for over 8 years, I must admit that nothing quite creates the impact that office politics does. Many a fabulous career have come to abrupt halts because of the toxicity that comes with mutterings and rumors. What starts off as a timy spark soon turns into a raging fire that engulfs everything that comes in the way. Not all of it is negative in character but most of it can ruffle more feathers than expected.
Follow up:
Is it possible to avoid being lured into the enticing but dangerous web of office politics? The strange looks, tensed atmosphere and conversations that fade instantly when one enters the room are not as exciting for the victim as it is for others. It sends multiple channels of negativity that eventually affect the victim, psychologically.
Office politics barely sends positive signals and therefore should be avoided at all costs. If something has to be said to someone in the vicinity, do so when the concerned person is around.
Most of us spend more time at work than in our homes, so it is vital for colleagues to maintain cordial relationships at all times. Disputes must never be taken personally for they tend to affect everyone and aggravates tension and stress in the atmosphere.
If you are an active office politician, it is about time you did something more productive with all that precious time, because sending negative vibrations to others bounces back to you. You may find it thrilling for a while, but that feeling is only temporary. Deep within your subconscious mind, you are giving energy to negative vibrations that will gradually build a tower of negativity inside you. The outcome can be anything from strained relationships to devastating incidents.
At the end of the day, we are all trying to make a living and the last thing one needs is inviting negative energy into places where we need it the least.
Try smiling and passing positive comments genuinely instead. Avoid being dragged into any conversation that sends out negative vibrations. If people have been talking about you lately, turn a deaf ear and focus on your responsibilities. When you refuse to entertain doubts and fears of the rumors turning out to be true, believing that nothing negative can affect you as long as you remain positively charged,you will remain untouched by them.These are facts derived from years of observing the lives of others and mine. Light up those positive atoms and they will in turn light up your life!
Surviving Office Politics
Padam Jalaj Bansal
“And a gentleman who has joined the organisation with the aim of churning out better prospects and experience finds himself in a circus.” I have been fortunate to work at various places. From ‘start-up’ to ‘oldest national organisation’ and from ‘semi-corporate’ to ‘corporate’, everywhere fundamentals of human conduct are more or less same. It is being observed that nature of office workers can not be generalised but overall tenets of office politics are alike. The Greek philosopher Plato once said, "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber." Unfortunately it's just as true today as it was in ancient Greece two thousand years ago. If you are one of the millions of people who work in a cubicle within innumerable office complexes, sooner or later you'll find yourself caught in a power play of some kind whether you want to participate in it or not. Every work which we carry out should be backed with sense of objectivity and while working in office when we get deviated from professional objectives and drawing benefits beyond the limits then we become part of office politics. And gentlemen and nice ladies who abstain from it may become victims. I agree that it isn't always bad and it certainly isn't avoidable. Therefore we must learn to cope with it. Let’s face it, sometimes people fight dirty and are not easy to get along with. When it comes to promotions for example, the atmosphere in any office becomes tense. During review sessions hypocrisy replaces reality. One of your closest friends might take you for ride and to the worst become your enemy when it comes to advancement. If you refuse to be a part of dirty game, you may be bullied by next coming through door. Learn to stand-up and ready for a showdown at any time. Back-stabbing, leg pulling, credit-snatching and buttering has become order of the day. One must have thick skin and carefree temperament to bear them. No matter a job is big or small, golden rule is to do exemplary work. Some times negative competition brings pointing out of fake and unnecessary mistakes in your work. Be calm and tactful to handle these debased ploys. The best defence is to make sure that your colleagues are aware of your good work. When trouble arises they may be back-up to you. Sometimes one comes across with those who think themselves to be superior and wise. Let them think so and do not try to get them out of their fantasy otherwise they will be your enemies. Cope up with them with poise and made them believe that you respect them. Never shout or scream even if your co-worker yells at you. If you do so you will be taken as undisciplined and enraged worker. Observe all mannerism especially with your boss and ladies staff. The most important thing is to be good group person. ‘One for all and all for one’ is the norm of group. Never try to get the credit of achieving target even if you are instrumental, rather spread the credit to all group members. It will earn you the respect and confidence of group members. Remember you should be preparing yourself to defend yourself at any time. It is essential to keep yourself safe even if you do not want to create problems for others as you never know when sky falls and an innocent finds himself among tyrants. Rest, I strongly believe that we need not to change others; we should do introspection and change ourselves and if we are pious and laying ourselves as an exemplary professional then others also get transformed gradually.
Talent, loyalty and hard work are not enough to fulfil your career ambitions; you must also be able to negotiate office politics if you want to enhance your reputation and climb the career ladder
Talent, loyalty and hard work are not enough to fulfil your career ambitions; you must also be able to negotiate office politics if you want to enhance your reputation and climb the career ladder. Politicking is an occupational hazard that you cannot avoid. If you don’t play the game you could lose out on the promotion or raise that is rightfully yours.
British workers spend nearly an hour a day “gossiping”, research suggests. During that time a great deal of office mudslinging goes on – and you may be one of the targets. A study by the occupational education organisation Roffey Park suggests that almost 70% of managers in the UK have been the victims of duplicitous colleagues and employees.
Examples of office politics aren’t limited to gossiping. Employees are also prone to forming a power base of likeminded colleagues (known as networking), withholding useful information from rivals (the ‘no invitation’ trick), and taking credit for other people’s successes (called being a ‘creative magpie’).
Then there’s not stepping in when someone needs help (‘the bystander’), coercing a colleague via email by copying in the boss (‘email to the gods’) and making muddy promises of future rewards in return for distasteful tasks (‘jam tomorrow’).
Before you become a political animal yourself, it is wise to make yourself aware of the groups that exist in your workplace. People with similar mindsets tend to collaborate, and women are more likely to employ political tactics - though they are also more likely to be affected by similar behaviour from others.
In fact, women can often be the victims of double standards in the world of office politics. The techniques they use to enhance their image and therefore their career might also draw accusations of ‘attention seeking’ and selfishness.
However, your gender need not be a hindrance if you politick in the most refined of ways.
Once you have identified the motives of various people, you can enter the political fray of the office. Have a clear idea of your own agenda and then start networking. Gradually build relationships with people whom you feel can benefit you.
Subtlety and decency are vital. Being too obviously ‘persuasive’ – buying colleagues coffees and trading favours – will put you down as conniving. As will constantly schmoozing your superiors. Contrary to popular belief, members of senior management tend not to care for sycophants.
Office politics can be a source of good in an organisation. Roffey Park claims that ‘good’ politicking is when the individual and the organisation gain – or feel they have benefited – from political behaviour. ‘Bad’ politics is when “individuals are seen to succeed at the expense of others, and this is held to be damaging to the organisation’s interests”.
Being good means being straightforward in your approach to people. Be honest and tell people as much as you can as objectively as possible – even if it is not what the other person wants to hear - and don’t betray confidences. This should earn you people’s respect and trust. Being seen as a decent person by colleagues is more admirable and useful than having to blow your own trumpet.
Treat everyone with the same positive attitude, regardless of status or gender, to build empathy with people and allow you to then form useful relationships with those who share common interests or goals for themselves and the business.
Don’t give people reason to dislike you. Be punctual, polite and conscientious. Avoid gossip and flirting. Don’t hang on to other people’s tails, and don’t let anyone hang on to yours. If the office is full of posers and/or grovellers you are working in the wrong place and it’s time to move on to better things.
And finally, trust your instincts.
Enlightened Office Politics
By Michael Dobson and Deborah Dobson
Have you ever thought—or said— things like this? "I can't stand all the office politics in this company." "It's not what you know, it's who you know." "If you don't play the right games and eat lunch with the right people, you'll never get promoted." If you think these assertions are true, well, frankly, you're right. If you think they are necessarily bad—well, they certainly can be. One thing is certain: office politics is inevitable in every organization with three or more people in it. And you know you're faced with a choice: influencer or influenced, knowing or guessing, controller or controlled. If you don't like this choice, you probably believe that you have only two options—to be an unethical, manipulative swine or to be a saintly but helpless victim of forces beyond your comprehension or control. That's the essential dilemma of the principled person when faced with the reality of office politics in an organization. If you think your only alternatives are to give up your principles or to surrender your effectiveness and your job security, no wonder you think you have only terrible choices. In fact, being a principled person can make you more effective and more successful in the world of office politics, especially if you look at your situation in terms of your long-term goals and interests. What It Means to Be a Principled Person A principled person is one with a commitment to principled behavior—integrity—at the core. Principled people are honest, reliable, dependable and professional. They do what they say they will do. Principled people are individuals with a commitment to the organization for which they work. That means they have a shared vision of what the organization is and what it needs to be, and they are willing to commit themselves toward that goal even at the cost of their short-term advancement and success. A principled person has the skills and drive necessary to advance those goals within the boundaries of good character. Without the skills, without the work, without the effort, principles are simply hot air. A real principled person knows that the work counts and demonstrates a good work ethic about long-term as well as immediate job efforts. Being a principled person, however, does not mean renouncing power in all its forms. Principled people can still seek out power to further their goals without being ruthless or corrupt.
Why You Need PowerSuccess in politics involves the acquisition and use of power. The principled person often has an ethical concern about power. Is it morally acceptable to seek power? How you acquire and how you use power and the purposes for which you use your power are subject to ethical rules. The mere fact of power considered alone is morally and ethically neutral. There are six types of power within organizations:
Role power is the power inherent in your position. If you're a vice president or a clerk, a member of the executive committee or the picnic committee, if you're in the marketing department or building maintenance, your position in the organization is one measure of your power.
Respect power is the power you get from the opinions others hold about you. If you're respected for your knowledge, your skills, your record of accomplishment, your personal integrity, you gain power. There is a negative version of respect power: fear power.
Rhetoric power is the power you get from your communications ability. If you're persuasive, a good writer, able to speak publicly, a talented negotiator, you gain influence over others from that skill.
Resource power is the power that comes from what you control. If you have the power to approve someone's budget, to decide which projects are funded, to decide who gets access to mainframe computer resources, or to select who goes on the business trip to Paris, your control of these resources translates into political power.
Relationship power is the power that comes from whom you know and how you know them. If you're a golfing buddy of the chairman of the board, or the protégé of a vice president on the rise, or even friends with the right clerk in accounting, you get power on the basis of those relationships.
Reason or purpose power is the power you get from being goal-oriented. If you have a clear vision for your department or for the company, you automatically have more power and influence than someone who has no goal at all. This type of power is essential if you're going to be an ethical politician who isn't thought of by others as "political."
There are three key lessons you can draw from this discussion:
You don't have to be equally strong in all areas to be powerful.
The sources of power are interactive: Strength in one area influences all the others; weakness in one area detracts from all the others.
The core of power is in having a reason or purpose for its use and application.
What If You Decide Not to Play? Surely, if you do a good job, work hard, avoid political behavior, and stay honest and friendly, you'll be okay, right? Wrong. Deciding not to play office politics, unfortunately, turns you into a victim, someone who is helpless to respond or deal with the vicissitudes of the workplace. In today's competitive environment, this can lead to a layoff, or worse. Don't choose victimhood when you can choose success. Being a principled person necessarily means that you believe your principles matter. Failure—especially unnecessary failure—means not only that you suffer but that the principles and values you care about, the work you care about, and the people you care about do not advance. While a principled person normally doesn't seek out a fight, he or she should not shrink from one when it's necessary.
Adapted from Enlightened Office Politics by Michael S. Dobson and Deborah S. Dobson. Copyright 2001 Michael and Deborah Singer Dobson. Used by permission of the publisher, AMACOM, Division of American Management Association. Click here for more information about this book. Visit www.amacombooks.org for information on other AMACOM titles.
How to Avoid Office Hysteria
Starting a new job in an office is one good way to start a career. Because of group dynamics, peer pressure, and office politics, it can also deteriorate into something lonely, discouraging, and overly dramatic. You will find that many people have not moved on past the middle school or high school mentality. As a result, the grown-up office experience is more than they can handle. It is always best to avoid getting involved with office politics. Stay neutral and others will hopefully leave you alone. Or, all sides may gang up on you, so be prepared to handle that.
If you are entering a career in an office setting that is already full of immaturity and drama, you can do these things to avoid involving yourself:
How to Handle Verbal Abuse or an Office Bully
Don't take the nonsense personally. Don't get involved. Eventually, you will become a target, especially if you are good in your job and don't favor any "political" sector at work. You will at sometime become the next victim of hysteria aimed you way. Rather than accept the role of victim, just ignore it. Disengage yourself whenever someone tries to draw you into conversations or actions that will involve you in nonsense. When people look at you funny, just walk away. Never try to put an end to it, because such efforts will fuel the fires of hysteria. Withdraw you energies to someplace more suitable and productive.
Bring headphones and an iPod or Walkman. Listen to music or talk shows as you work and stay productive, ignoring distractions. You can also enjoy music you love during work time. This will force people that would otherwise try to engage you in chatter to find a different way to communicate with you. Hopefully, t they will disturb your work only if it's something important.
Identify the gossipers. You should observe office behaviors and interactions your first few days on the job and see that there are a couple of workers that instigate problems. Once you have that sorted out, avoid these people. Don't talk to them, don't socialize with them, don't; eat lunch with them, don't ride the elevator with them, and certainly don't go out for drinks with them. At company parties, ignore them. Prevent them form having any but the most minute first-hand knowledge about you. Then anything gossipy they say about you will be groundless.
Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. Get your story straight. Openly let all your coworkers know form your first day on the job that you aren't interested in trivial details. Be to the point and all business so that everyone will know you aren't into drama and will not participate. Your supervisor and boss will then see you as a potential promotional candidate for leadership.
Have fun in healthy ways. Don't let the drama queens get you down. Stay out of office politics, but talk with co-workers that are mature and level headed. Go out, have fun, and get to know them. When it comes time to spread rumors, stay out of it. If someone asks you if you know what the latest story is, just say you don't know and don't want to know.
Dealing with Office Politics
What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?
A reader asks about the pervasive problem of office politics. I'll begin my answer with some introductory remarks. Then I will share her e-mail so you get a sense of her overall situation. After that I will respond point by point. I have numbered the paragraphs in her e-mail so I can refer to their number, instead of repeating what she wrote. Finally, I will end with some concluding remarks.
I thank our reader for raising the important issue of office politics. The office environment is like a family environment. Coworkers, like family members, may experience rivalry, frustration, a struggle for recognition, and a desire to become leader of the pack. In the struggle to assert oneself, harsh words and devious deeds may take place. Yes, the struggle may be painful, but in your heart, how can you blame family members or coworkers for lashing out at you? After all, their criticism says less about you than it does about them. They act spitefully not because they are vicious at heart, but because they are scared, insecure, and feel under attack. When we awaken to this fact, it becomes easier to accept others and realize that we've got to learn how to get along if we wish to succeed in life.
Enough of an intro, let's move on to our reader's e-mail.
"I read about manipulative people and how we should not let them take advantage of us, and I read 'Nasty People' and how we should look at them (1).
"What if a colleague pretends to be busy. She told our boss that I am not working as hard as I should, and that I come to work late. She destroyed the opinion that my boss had of me, which was excellent. And she spends half of the day on the phone or working on her second job, which nobody knows about (2).
"What do you do when she decides to do only the work she thinks is important? And she even has the nerve to ask me to do trivial things. What do you do in such a case? Do you let her be or do you talk to somebody (3)?
"How do I erase the feelings of unfairness that destroy my peace of mind, undermine my status at work (4) and rob me of the benefits I should have (5)?
"This problem has been going on for four years now and it's a source of great stress and sadness for me. I often wanted to go to the boss and open his eyes but I don't want to nail anybody, and I would look like the one at fault. When I get compliments from people I work with or people that I help, she becomes unbearable. And I'm five years older than her with much more experience, and a higher I.Q. and E.Q. (6)
"Something else, I love people and my nature is to help them. That's why when I read articles and books about personal development, I want to share the word with all the people I know (7)."
Here are my comments to our reader. 1) Who do you suppose will be more successful in life, Mr. X who is reading "How to Get along with Others" or Mr. Y who is reading "How to Protect Yourself from Manipulative People"? Can you see how Mr. X is thinking about WE while Mr. Y is thinking about ME? Can you see how Mr. X is working from the assumption that all people are decent and worthy of friendship while Mr. Y believes others are out to get him and cannot be trusted? Are you surprised that Mr. X has many friends and feels in control of his life while Mr. Y is under stress, unhappy, and feels like a victim?
Attitude is everything. And attitude is a choice, whether subconscious or conscious. When we allow ourselves to react to events by automatically acting according to our feelings, we make our choices subconsciously. It is only when we are aware of our thoughts and feelings and think them through BEFORE we act that we make conscious choices. You can choose to change your attitude. You can choose to think like Mr. X. Here's how:
1. Become aware of your thoughts and feelings.2. Whenever you're feeling stressed, ask yourself, "How DO I feel about this?"
3. Ask yourself, "How would I LIKE to feel about this?"
4. Ask yourself, "How do I CHOOSE to feel about this?"
5. After making your decision, ask yourself, "How do I feel about this NOW?
Chances are you can bring about a change in attitude with this simple exercise. If you repeat it as often as necessary, you'll grow better and better each time. By changing the words in the exercise, you can also change your behavior. Just ask yourself the following questions: "What am I DOING about this? What would I LIKE to do about this? What do I CHOOSE to do about this? What am I going to do about this NOW?
Reread your words in paragraph 2. Can you see that what you are saying is that you are superior to your coworker? Do you really think you can harbor such thoughts without her being aware of how you feel? How do your feelings about her make her feel? If she feels threatened by you, it isn't surprising that she will attack in some way.
3) You need to direct your attention, not on your coworker or boss, but on yourself. Ask yourself what can you do to make their jobs easier. Don't you agree with George Elliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, 1819 ~ 1880) that "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"
4) You restore your peace of mind by opening your heart. Don't worry. you will be appreciated when you appreciate others. Remember, you have it in your power to destroy your 'enemies' by making them your friends.
(5) Regarding benefits you should have, don't confuse your accomplishments with entitlement. Of course you are doing a good job; that's why you have been hired and why you are being paid. But if you work on bringing harmony to the workplace, additional benefits may come your way.
(6) Whoops, there you go again saying you are superior. Don't belittle your coworker; after all, you have to be little to belittle. It's great that you have experience and a high I.Q. and E.Q., but people don't CARE how much you KNOW until they KNOW how much you CARE.
(7) Great! I'm sure you want to make a difference in the world. It's just that your own insecurities, suspicions, and judgments are blocking the way. What is true for you is also true for your coworker. Wouldn't it be helpful if some wise, thoughtful person could come along and reconcile the situation? Well, that special someone can be YOU. When you make that difference, like Lily Tomlin, you will say to yourself, "I always wondered why somebody doesn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody."
Finally, for an overall personal development tune-up, you may want to read:"SHUT UP, STOP WHINING & GET A LIFE, A Kick-Butt Approach to a Better Life"by Larry Winget.
I realize my advice may appear as "blame the victim," simplistic, unrealistic, and Pollyannaish. But it is based on personal experience and the experience of those I have mentored. People are decent and worthy of our support. Yes, some of them are wounded, and as a result act cruelly. But the worse of enemies can become the best of friends and your powerful ally. The answer my friend, is not blowing in the wind, it is lying in your heart. Open it.
If my comments were unexpected and painful, remember that what you have been doing wasn't working. If you want different results, you've got to do things differently. Your task, then, is to befriend everyone and gladly help all members of the team. Take a good second look at your coworker and ask yourself what you respect and admire about her. If you look for the good, you will find it. Also, ask yourself what is good about the situation you are now in. What can you learn from it? What good will come from it? Be thankful for your job and appreciative of your coworkers. And don't keep your gratitude secret; express it. When you befriend everyone, it is impossible to lose, for should you later decide to leave the company to advance your career, those you've helped will support you and act as references.
For more ideas on dealing with this problem, check out "YOU CAN WIN AT OFFICE POLITICS: Techniques, Tips, and Step-by-Step Plans for Coming Out Ahead by Robert I. Bell.
Also see "SECRETS TO WINNING AT OFFICE POLITICS: How to Achieve Your Goals and Increase Your Influence at Work" by Marie G. McIntyre.
10 ways to survive office politics
Office politics will never go away. It’s a fact of company life. However, destructive office politics can demoralize an organization, hamper productivity, and increase turnover. Here are some tips, applicable for both staff and management, on dealing with office politics.
Note: This information is also available as a PDF download.
#1: Live at peace with others
The easiest way to avoid problems with politics is to get along with people. I’m not saying you need to hug everyone and sing songs, and I’m not saying you have to be a pushover for everyone. You can be pleasant and professional, while at the same time being assertive when necessary. If you have a concern, focus only on the issue, not on the person. If you have to refuse a request, explain why and try to come up with alternative solutions.
Living at peace with others also means being careful about choosing sides during office power struggles. Aligning yourself with one faction or the other will prevent you from working effectively with people from the “other” side, thereby hampering your productivity and thus your performance. It’s even worse if “your” faction loses out. Instead, try to focus on your tasks, dealing with people in either faction on the basis of the tasks alone, and avoid talk on the political issue that separates the groups.
#2: Don’t talk out of school
Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.– Benjamin Franklin
Does your organization have issues? Have people told you things in confidence? Then keep those matters to yourself. Talking to outsiders about issues within your organization makes all of you look bad to that outsider. Furthermore, your boss or your boss’s boss will not appreciate that behavior. People will find out that you spoke about what they told you, and they’ll lose confidence in you and respect for you.
#3: Be helpful
We all have responsibilities and objectives, and those things should receive priority. Nonetheless, if it doesn’t take too much time, being helpful to others can reap benefits for you. Does someone need a ride in the direction you live? Did your co-worker leave headlights on in the parking lot? Is someone having trouble building an Excel macro? If you can help that person, especially if you can do so without taking too much of your time, you benefit yourself as well as the other person. By doing these things, you’re building political capital and loyalty. In doing so, you reduce the chances that you will be the victim of political intrigue.
#4: Stay away from gossip
I never repeat gossip, so listen carefully.— Old joke
Nothing destroys the dynamics of an office more than gossip. Stay away from it, because nothing good comes from it. Just be sure you avoid the “holier than thou” attitude of lecturing your co-workers on the evils of gossip. You’ll make them lose face, and they’ll resent you. Instead, try subtly changing the subject. For example, suppose the group is talking about Jane’s problems with her child, and of course Jane is absent from the group. Do some free association and try to come up with some topic that’s related to Jane or her child, but won’t involve gossip. Then, make a comment about that topic.
For instance, suppose you know that Jane’s child is involved in a sports league. Mention this fact, thereby linking the child and the league. Then, shift the conversation so that you’re now talking about the league rather than Jane’s child. You could ask when schedules will be published, or if they need parent volunteers. If you do it right, no one will even notice that you’ve moved them away from the gossip.
#5: Stay out of those talk-down-the-boss sessions
Suppose your co-workers start complaining about the boss. If you join in, it makes you look disloyal to the boss. If you don’t, it looks awkward in the group. What can you do? As with the situation of gossip, try changing the subject by linking the boss to another topic, then talking about that topic instead. Or you could simply respond to your co-workers with a smile and a tongue-in-cheek, “Come on, aren’t we exaggerating? [name of boss] really isn’t THAT bad.” Be careful, though, because it could be taken as an admission by you that the boss is bad.
#6: Be a straight arrow
The best way to keep out of trouble politically is to be seen as someone who doesn’t play office politics — in other words, a straight arrow. Do what you say you’re going to do, alert people to problems, and admit your mistakes. Others will respect you, even if they don’t always agree with you. More important, you have a lower chance of being a victim of politics.
#7: Address the “politics” issue openly when appropriate
Many times, when I do organizational assessments, I sense anxiety on the part of client staff. To address this anxiety, I tell people I interview that I’m not there to get people fired. I’m there to help the organization function better. It might not completely allay their fears and suspicions, but at least I’ve brought up the issue and addressed it.
Think about doing the same thing if you believe politics is an underlying theme at your company. Tell people you’re not interested in scoring political points but only in getting the job done. It might not work, but unless you bring the matter up, there’s no chance at all that they will believe you. So if a co-worker is unavailable, and you have to act on that person’s behalf, consider saying to that person, “I had to act because of your absence. I wasn’t trying to go behind your back and I wasn’t trying to show you up.”
#8: Document things
Nothing saves a job or career more than having a written record. If you believe a matter will come back to haunt you, make sure you keep a record of the matter, either via e-mail or document. Documentation is also an effective way to highlight of your own accomplishments, which can help you when your performance evaluation is conducted.
#9: Set incentives to foster teamwork
If you’re a manager or senior executive, take a close look at your incentives. Are you unwittingly setting up your staff to work against each other? Do your metrics address only individual departments, or do they also address how departments could benefit the larger organization?
For example, suppose the hardware department of Sears reduced all its prices by half. If you measured only profitability of the department, you would conclude that it is performing horribly. However, that measurement would neglect to account for increased volume in all other departments because of the hardware department.
If you reward employees in a department based only on how well that department does, you may inadvertently cause destructive competition among departments. Each one will be competing against every other one, and all the departments could end up in a worse position. To minimize this possibility, give employees incentives based not only on department results but on organization results as well. That way, employees from different departments have more motivation to work together and less motivation to engage in destructive politics.
#10: Set an example for your staff
People in an organization look to leadership to see how to act. Do you want your staff to refrain from negative politics? Do you want to see collaboration and teamwork instead of petty rivalries, jealousy, and back-stabbing? Act the way you want your staff to act, and they will follow you.
Daniel 6—The story of Daniel in the lion’s den
Here is a case of a Bible story that is extremely pertinent to everyday adult life that has been trivialized and cutesified for us in Sunday School class when we were little. In fact, it’s so familiar, I don’t think I need to quote it for you here. You probably remember that Daniel was thrown into a den of lions by some mean old person, but because he prayed and because he was a Good Guy, the lions suddenly decided he wasn’t tasty and didn’t eat him.
But in reality, Daniel was the victim of some pretty vicious office politics.
If you examine this passage again, you will find that Daniel and the king were very chummy, and that several of Daniel’s rivals were very jealous. In fact, Daniel was about to be made their manager, something which they couldn’t stand. So they plotted about how to out-maneuver him, but they couldn’t find any dirt, because Daniel was such a goody two-shoes that they had nothing to bring against him.
“I’ll bet the only way we’ll ever trip him up is in his religion,” they said, “and what good will that do us?”
So they hit upon the idea of looking at his personal religious beliefs. Now Daniel was a Jew, and as a Jew he could only worship and pray to the One True God, which he did, three times a day. But Daniel’s rivals thought up a nice, patriotic-sounding law that restricted all petitions and prayers to the king alone under penalty of death. Then they tricked the king into making it into a royal decree to go into effect for one month.
Of course, Daniel continued his daily prayers. Daniel’s enemies, seeing that Daniel had fallen right into their trap, brought this matter to the attention of the king, who was greatly distressed by this unforeseen consequence of the law he had decreed. But Daniel’s enemies pressed him, recalling the legal principle that there are no exceptions to the law. The king found himself bound by his own law to punish Daniel, his friend.
The king was as terrified as Daniel was when Daniel entered the lion’s den. It is a terrible thing to be manipulated into position where you must bring about the demise of a person you admire and trust! When the time was up, the king rushed to the lion’s den at the earliest possible moment, and found that Daniel had survived. Then Daniel’s enemies were punished for their treachery.
Now I want you to notice some things:
People who are good at office politics are very good at exploiting other people’s integrity against them. In other words, the only way they could take advantage of you in the first place is because your integrity makes you predictable. Take some consolation in the fact that your troubles come, not from your weakness, but from your virtue.
In office politics, the person who seems to be your immediate enemy might really be your friend who was out-maneuvered. If you don’t jump to conclusions, this might work out to your advantage. Notice that Daniel never once accused the king of intransigence.
In office politics, the bad guys always work in groups and go strictly by the book, writing the book if necessary. They patiently lay the trap long in advance, using proper procedures to do it. You didn’t see it coming, but it was long in coming.
God did not spare Daniel from the lion’s den. He had to go in it. It was terrifying for Daniel and his friend the king. In the same way, God has never guaranteed that the going will not get rough. However, you are assured that when the going does get rough, the outcome will be okay if you trust God.
God did not give the king special wisdom to figure out some procedural loophole to spare Daniel. There was no magical shortcut for them, there was no magical shortcut for Jesus when He faced the cross, and there is no magical shortcut for you when you face trouble. Jesus doesn’t give you a remedy for hard times; He reveals a purpose for them.
Avoiding adversity is not as good as overcoming adversity. In this case, Daniel’s religion was vindicated, the king came to see the power of God, and the truth was proclaimed throughout the land. None of these things would have happened if Daniel had avoided the lion’s den.
God is interested in everybody, not just the faithful. if God had intervened so that Daniel wouldn’t have had to enter the lion’s den, Daniel would have been edified, but no one else. As it turned out, by putting Daniel through some anxiety, many people benefited. (Daniel’s enemies were losers no matter what happened, but I’m sure they knew their plan could backfire, and they took the risk.)
The lions weren’t Jewish and yet they did not harm Daniel. Our God is not just the God of the good guys; we worship the God of all things and all people. Before Jesus ascended, He assured us that He has all power in heaven and on Earth. So when your heart is troubled in your own lion’s den, remember that He reigns not just over true believers, but over the lions as well. Jesus has overcome the world.
So the next time you are out maneuvered in office politics, and the people whom you thought were your friends find themselves consigning you to the lion’s den under political pressure, take heart. Trust in God, and don’t let your perceptions be distorted. The lions won’t hurt you, and you can come out a winner.
Office Politics
” I hate office politics” said the young lady. “I have been working for the last 3 years and it’s getting from bad to worse. I wish I could join a company where there is no office politics”.
Wishful thinking indeed. Even if she were to search all over the wide world, she is unlikely to find an organization which does not have its share of “politics”. This may vary in degree. In some organizations, it is the way of life, as it were. In others, it surfaces from time to time when major decisions are to be taken. Some may be more covert than others but you can bet it is lurking somewhere there in the organization.
Lily Garcia in the Washington Post says “politics” is people jockeying for position or power, sometimes through unscrupulous or disingenuous means.
Since you can’t wish it away, I suggest you become adept at dealing with politics. Otherwise, it may become altogether too frustrating to you to find that the credit for your good work has gone to someone else or that you have been assigned the worst territory since you had no one to bat for you.
I am not for encouraging politics. I am certainly against using it to put down others. All that I am saying is that you should not become a victim of it, as happens to thousands all over the world, in organizations -big or small.
Understand your environment and the people who matter. Observe the “rules of the game” at your place of work. Being opposed to office politics does not mean you should not look after your interests.
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This is the 166 th of the “A Step A Day” series : To provide perspective and provoke thought to facilitate self-development across a wide spectrum of issues- big and small- crucial for executive success
Office politics can develop into ugly piece of work that threaten the entire team. It harms relationships, leaving scars that people will never forget.
Here is some information I found online to solve this. Of coz this is not elixir or a single person's effort. It takes 2 hands to clap, isnt it?
How to avoid office politics
April 18, 2006 by admin Filed under best of, career, coaching, looking inward, management, productivity, tips and tricks, work life
40 Comments
Considering the source, you may just want to skip right past this post, since I’ve only paid attention to political maneueverings long enough to learn how to avoid them. I’m not much of a political player at work. A few years (and positions) ago, an older colleague of mine was regularly berating me (in a caring way) for not paying attention to the political process at work. I just didn’t have the stomach for it. Still don’t. Sometimes to my detriment, actually. But I’m cool with that–at least I can sleep at night. And I mean that literally. The craziest stuff will keep me awake, so staying non-political, at the very least, is a surefire way to ensure better sleep. I assume that folks who are political at work also sleep well…they just have a higher craziness tolerance than me.
The whyThe primary reason that I stay apolitical is that it takes up too much space and time, and I’ve already got enough things to worry about. Plus, I don’t get the sense that being political would appreciably contribute to my overall efficiency or productivity. So I stay out of it.
The howThis is both simple and sublime. I strive to just be me. Here’s how, deconstructed and in no particular order:
Wear no mask. By “mask” I mean those identities that we assume in order to fit in better, feel more comfortable in a situation, or get people to loosen up around us. I don’t do it. Some folks think it’s a good idea to change like a chameleon to suit the situation. I think that’s a recipe for disaster. I try to be me, all the time. The guy that walks into your office is the same guy that walks into your colleague or boss’s office. One face, no mask.
Be transparent. Not invisible, just without guise. All my agendas are clearly visible. You want to know what I think? I’ll tell you. The words I say might make one or both of us uncomfortable, but I’ll do my best to soften them without diluting their truth.
Flex and bend. Rigidity is a sign of rigor mortis. I strive to be flexible and willing to hear opposing points of view. Defending a lame position for any reason is, well, lame. I don’t assume I’m the smartest person in the room, and I generally take the opinions of others at face value (this is where being apolitical can be painful, but only in the short term).
Listen to ‘em. This helps with the flex and it helps with the ‘no mask’ thing. Learning to really listen is dangerous to my status quo. Truly listening means I’m extending myself beyond my own boundaries, at my risk and for the benefit of the other. It’s hard to do if you’re unwilling to be transformed.
Park the ego. This is a difficult one (and probably is for everyone), but it’s essential for me. When my ego gets wrapped up in the work, it’s too easy to start defending those lame positions mentioned earlier.
Forget the empire. I don’t want to be an empire builder. I’ve got my responsibilities and I attend to them. If I acquire an empire, I’ll probably never notice.
No gossip. I fail too often at this one. Gossip is talking about stuff that you haven’t confirmed as true. Unfortunately I slip into gossip mode too often, and I think it’s because I’m so willing to talk things out. Though censorship is a sign of politics, ironically a little greater control over the internal censor is probably well advised.
Focus on it. What’s the business issue at hand? Focus on it. Straight outta Druckerland. The key is to be sure I’m not being myopic about the issue I’m focusing on. Sometimes the issue is broader than my current focus.
Apologize later. As opposed to asking permission first. This is really just a corollary, but the willingness to act first instead of asking permission sometimes helps me avoid other people’s political quagmires.
All of the above is really what I do. I think it’s just a tad ironic that I have a plan to avoid being political, but my plan basically boils down to being consistently authentic. Seems to work pretty well.
Some more advice.
For backstabbers poking at you,it is best to stay low profile and wait till everything is over. There is no point in leaving the place as this will bring joy to the backstabbers and you will lose something along the way. If you react, you are the loser.try to keep ur mind out of such activity and just try to identify who is your Actual frd and who can help you come out of it as the situation in which you are you can not trust anyone as you would be taken for granted for anything you say.I would also suggest to give a stren look whenever you think that someone is playing dirty as the Look will warn the opposite person and will keep couple of things under Control.Hope this helps you to have an work approach and pls pls dont just quit your job because of this reason as Office Politics exist every where and you just cant keep running away from it and Its fun to Face the Challenges than Hide Away.Trying to run through the situation keeping my head cool and trying to keep off all the political issues. No idea how long it will take to clear things out!my first advice to you will be DONT REACT. do not drown your self in self pity which is the worst thing you could do to yourself.you as an individual are destined for far more better things in life than to be bothered by these petty individuals (so called friends). As of now do not think of these things . It will only spoil your mental & physical health. Secondly when you dont react & just do your work & go home the very people who were making you the target will start wondering " What's wrong with this guy" he does'nt react at all. These are petty individuals who dont have any work & as very rightly said IDLE MIND IS A DEVIL's WORKSHOP. These people by the time they realise this would have ended up digging their own grave.First of all analyse the situation & if you feel that you have reached the saturation point in this organisation then it is time for you to move on my friend.Update your resume firstdo not take a hasty decision.find out how much are your talents in this field worth outside ?Be assertive & believe in your self.Things will come to you automatically!!!! You will have the last laugh on these people!!!All the very best to you & once again do not get bogged down by these trivial matters. It will be there in any organisations you go but the levels are different!!!!
You are not the only victim. there are many innocent persons who lose materially and even go to jail for no fault of theirs. So you will have to analyse your situation very carefully. Here are certain tips.
1.prospect in modern life is believed to be the gift of CCD(creativity, crookedness and dhithissm). Observe who is having these traits to what extent.
2. The personality types:
a. joota chatoo.means a boot licker. He/she can do and undo anything for someone in power for gain. He/she has no other value except acqisition of gain.
b.kudkudau, means a grumbler. He/she just goes on grumbling. It is not possible on his/her part to alter the situation.
c.kamar kasu,means waist tightner. He/she revolts against the status quo and thinks that he/she can establish justice and order of his/her liking.
d.rambharasu, means who accepts the situation as given by Ram and enjoys as it is.
e.bahkau, means one who is able to set a person in motion against one's self or others very cunningly like Shakuni.
f.bhadkau means one who is capable of disintegrating an integrated group.and
g.bidkau.means one who is capable of shattering an integrated group into pieces rendering it to nothingness.
Maintain appropriate distance depending upon their type.
3. Look into your demand characteristics.
our being and becoming is responsible for eliciting specific reactions in others. Those may be for or against. So please check up what are your demand characteristics which elicited such reactions in others and replace those demand characteristics at the earliest.
Are You the Victim of Office Politics?
The rat race. It's inescapable. It's a jungle out there and the big cats are forever sharpening their claws. Even if you make a conscious effort to stay out of the fray, it's almost impossible not to be sucked in.
There are lots of reasons why office politics exist. Re-creating family of origin roles (sorry for the shrink-ese). Feeling undermined at home and compensating at work. Adult bullies in the grown-up playground. Power hunger. It doesn't matter what the reasons are; it just plain sucks.
I used to work at a methadone clinic with a dozen, embittered, bitchy, middle-aged social workers and nurses. It was HELL. It was such a crazy system, I devised creative ways to stay sane in the midst of the collective lunacy (see How I drove my former boss crazy and rightly so).
Here are the basic office politics archetypes I've noticed through my work experiences. If you can think of any I'm missing, I'd love to read about them as comments:
The Ego Monster: They're right. They're always right. They have to be the smartest person in the room. Their ideas are the best and therefore the only ones that count. These are also the folks that pay the most lip service to "teamwork."
The Bully: They use verbal and intellectual (if they're capable of it) intimidation. They openly belittle others' ideas, work, dress, speech, etc., (with the exception of their immediate supervisor(s) and/or boss). The only way they can feel good about themselves is by putting others down.
The Climber: They have to be on top. It doesn't even really matter if the top position is a glory-less one. If there's a rung above them, they're going to climb it. They usually ascend by using the daggers they plunge in people's backsides as rappelling instruments.
Mr./Ms. Good Intentions: They're a variation of the Climber, but they disguise their agenda with "the best of intentions," smiling whilst they sharpen their oyster knives.
The Pilot Fish: They are the shameless suck-ups who hope that by suckling on the power teat, they'll be spared the attacks of the Bully and the Climber and curry favor with the Ego Monster.
The Innocent Bystander: This is the archetype to which I relate. I hate politics. Hate them. Basically, I just want to do the best job possible and leave me out of it, thank you. You can never stay out of it, not really. The system always finds a way to suck you in. Even working from home as a freelance whatever doesn't make you immune. Believe me, I tried this angle.
The crazy thing is, 20 years from now- when you're in a different job or retired- none of the things we rage, plot and scheme over at the office matters. Well, maybe if you're Albert Schweitzer or Madame Curie it does, but ultimately who gives a rat's a$$ how many widgets are sold or insurance policies opened? I don't.
So what can you do to survive? First, realize it's them, not you. Do you feel like you're going crazy at work? Up is down? Left is right? Day is night? Chances are you're in a crazy system. I've been there, calling my friends at night and incredulousy describing my day, hoping they'll give me a reality check. Never a good sign.
Second, buy, borrow, download or steal this book by Robert I. Sutton, Ph.D.: The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace or Surviving One That Isn't. I'd hoped Dr. Sutton would become a PeopleJam expert (hint, hint), but don't know what happened to that request.
Office politics is the hardest aspect of this life, especially if you are a fresher in this field. Like it or not, you will end up becoming a part of it and then it’s totally up to you how you deal with it and escape the trap.Here are 5 tips for the office, which can be a help for you in dealing with the taxing situation and finding your way out of the mess.1. Think before you act (or speak)2. Nurture the stakeholders3. Keep enemies close4. Imitate the successful5. Play the gameRead them in detail at Indystar and always remember that it is highly imperative to maintain you calm and keep a composed temper in all the situations. For, tension and panic does not better things but take them towards worse.
Dear Victim of Office Dysfunction,
Wow, if colleges are where you are supposed to learn, it’s sad to hear what you are learning, particularly about politics. Many people are not students of politics like you are, but merely day-dream in class and become even greater victims than you. You are at least surviving whereas many are axed, say the wrong thing to the wrong person when speaking truth to power (there’s a reason that the pioneers in many organizations are the ones with arrows sticking out!), or wind up in Organizational Siberia — that place that is so low on the food chain that everyone knows they are an “untouchable” in the caste system. So pat yourself on the back for recognizing the situation rather than being blind or living on that river in Egypt called “De Nile!”
DOUBLE-CHECK FREQUENCY OF “FREAK-ANCY”But before jumping to conclusions, are you SURE it ISN”T just a coincidence and that a majority of supervisors and managers are more humane and effective? So first triple check by networking to ask others, discussing the phenomenon confidentially with HR, observing patterns of people who leave and why, etc. If you can find another transfer to such a positive work climate, obviously, lobby for that move. Although you fear three job changes on your resume, that’s a lot less eyebrow raising than three different colleges, etc., since it’s easy to explain at future employers and less likely for you to be seen as a “bad apple.”
SOME ORGANIZATIONS ARE IN TIME MACHINESUnfortunately, you are right that often such abuse, power tripping, control, micro-managing, slave-driving, and crazy-making behavior is often tolerated by non-progressive companies and organizations, so there are no panaceas. At times it’s simply a matter of several “managers” (we refuse to call such neanderthals “leaders”) getting by in an organization because they produce results that are stellar, they bully people higher than them, and/or they have someone in their pocket in some way.
But it sounds like you are describing a more serious level of dysfunction in which it’s not a mere matter of a few people or the small unit of an “office” being counter-productive, rather an entire organizational culture. We fear this is true since you are describing more than one occurrence of similar behavior (your current control freak, slave-driver boss sound not much different from a micro-manager) AND Human Resources acknowledges the problem (“he’s up to his old tricks”) and yet does nothing to lobby for a more permanent solution, instead transferring you.
We can only assume it MAY not be a mere coincidence that you would up with another power tyrant supervisor, but instead, that your organizational culture attracts and breeds such old school, Theory X managers. Such obsolete approaches are reminiscent of managerial techniques from the Industrial Revolution days when Frederic Taylor did scientific studies of how to bleed every ounce of performance from people swinging an axe or pick at a precise angle for greater productivity per minute. Ugh!
CULTURE CHANGE IS TOUGH If culture wide power abuse, worker abuse, and toxicity permeate and is allowed, it may mean that it’s going to take wide-spread culture change to make a difference. It usually means that:(1) top management administration has an incredible blind spot to the damage to morale, employee and engagement, and ultimately performance due to employee resentment and slow-down or even sabotage,(2) management is actually consciously colluding to support such overly political people because they benefit in some way, and/or(3) this style of management is more innocent but just a part of a historic hierarchical, old-way, command-and-control style of managing.
Which options are the case at this college? If the problem IS symptomatic of a larger macro-organizational culture and way of existing, be realistic about your chances of changing the norms. While you might choose to lobby for support amongst peers, gather advocates through networking, and approaching HR and LINE MANGERS to join you in providing managerial training, communications development, an employee Bill of Rights, joint labor management committees to improve the climate, atmosphere and attitude surveys, etc. If the college has an Organizational Development and/or Employee Relations department, their specialty in addressing broad-scale work environment problems and tensions will equip them better than generalist HR departments as far as forging change. But be realistic. Barring new top management that sees the problem, clearly announces the end of the line for such white collar torture, we suggest that you recognize the nature of the beast. Culture change is slightly faster than a glacier in some places, though more promising in other settings. What’s your hunch for your educational institution?
HANG IN THERE (OR NOT)So continue putting feelers out, and meanwhile explore finding yet another manager, but why not do informal outreach yourself and proactively ask to be placed with a specific manager versus roll the dice and leave it up to HR? Secondly, remember in the words of the old 1960’s rock group, The Turtles, “It Ain’t Me, Babe!” Don’t take any of this treatment personally. Read the section from our Survival of the Savvy book called “Deactivate Your Political Buttons” in order to stay more calm, find mental techniques for not getting hooked, and for coping. You may or may not have the economic freedom to just leave without a job, but some people do start to weigh the health costs of an ulcer since your stomach may start keeping score.
If you must stay, work on YOU, find confidential supporters for some sort of “Dumped On Anonymous” group, but make sure it does not become public, that you do not gain a reputation of becoming a whiner, finding balance of how much to focus on this versus get the work done, and find other outlets for enjoyment. But it sure sounds like the hand-writing is on the wall.
Thanks for writing to Office-Politics.
Sincerely,
Rick Brandon, Ph.d. and Marty Seldman, Ph.D. Co-authors,Survival of the Savvy: High-Integrity Political Tactics for Career and Company Success
DEAR ANNIE: My boss is obviously disliked and not respected by his boss. The trouble is, his boss is the top guy in our division. This has a tremendous impact on the work I produce, since the big boss likes to find fault with everything the little boss and his team touch. This has already affected my pay and career prospects. Can I get around this? GOODBYE WITHOUT LEAVING
DEAR GWL: I love this "big boss" and "little boss" stuff--it's so Laurel and Hardy. But that brand of slapstick was no doubt way before your time, so here's the new kind: There's only one boss here, and guess who it is. It's you.
You can take your talent elsewhere, of course: a different division, a new company. But let's say you run into the same situation again--and you know, if you keep viewing the world in terms of "big" and "little" bosses, you really aren't going anywhere anyway. Instead, try thinking about what you have accomplished in very specific terms: Whom did it please? (The client, the audience, the tax accountants...) Why was it great? (What did they like about it? If you don't know, go find out.) How much money did it bring in? (If the answer is a negative number, stop right here.) And then: If I try to sell this someplace else, who will jump at it? Exclude "bosses" from your calculations. At this point, they don't count.
Nancy Friedberg, a career coach at the Five O'Clock Club in Manhattan who has heard your story many times, says this: "There are people watching you all the time--people in your business, your peers, your boss' peers, his boss' peers, your opposite number at some competing company. You may know who some of these people are right now, or you may not. But figure it out--and once you do, make sure you meet these people. And then don't talk about the weather."
Instead, come up with an eight-word summary of your best stuff, your latest triumph, your real interest (okay, the ideal is eight words, but 20 ain't bad), and get it out there--over lunch, in an elevator, at a conference, in a trade-association meeting. "Once you have built a reputation apart from your company, your company sees you as more valuable," says Friedberg. "And in fact, you are."
You won't need big and little bosses then, will you? One thing does lead to another. Life is so surprising.
Office politics is the use of one's individual or assigned power within an employing organization for the purpose of obtaining advantages beyond one's legitimate authority. – Wikipedia.
Office politics is inherent in the corporate world. Most of us view office politics in a negative light. No doubt, office politics involves dirt such as gossiping, malicious schemes of employees etc. You cannot detach yourself from office politics. You may not be involved directly but even lending an ear to such conversations, makes you a party to it. It's fun to gossip in office, but remember you can be a subject of it too. It does not take much time to become a victim to office politics. It is not a sin to indulge in politics but play it responsibly and do not seize the credit of others for your personal gains. If you are an avid player then tread your way carefully. Those who play politics irresponsibly often end up ruining their reputation. Loose participation can also lead to a sharp decline in your productivity chart. Here’s how to tackle the situation if you get caught in the circle of office politics.
Examine the situation and exercise your choice. Decide whether you want to fight the situation or let go of it.
Be focused on what you want to achieve. If it is the profitability of the organization or your work that will suffer, then disengage from petty differences.
Emerge as a winner by finding solutions to problems rather than complaining about the nature of situation.
Avoid taking sides in a conflict; instead facilitate open communication to earn the trust of both parties.
What goes around comes around. If there is a difference of opinion, do not get nasty or lose your temper. Your cool temperament will get awarded sooner or later.
Be a good listener and understand everyone's viewpoint. Do not judge any issue hastily.
Try your best to honestly sort out things. It is sensible to resolve problems rather than run away from them. Office politics is not a necessary evil as it could assist in the development of one's career. You need to be smart to use the opportunity which comes your way to climb the career ladder faster and with ease.
Namrata Ekka
Having dwelt in the corporate world for over 8 years, I must admit that nothing quite creates the impact that office politics does. Many a fabulous career have come to abrupt halts because of the toxicity that comes with mutterings and rumors. What starts off as a timy spark soon turns into a raging fire that engulfs everything that comes in the way. Not all of it is negative in character but most of it can ruffle more feathers than expected.
Follow up:
Is it possible to avoid being lured into the enticing but dangerous web of office politics? The strange looks, tensed atmosphere and conversations that fade instantly when one enters the room are not as exciting for the victim as it is for others. It sends multiple channels of negativity that eventually affect the victim, psychologically.
Office politics barely sends positive signals and therefore should be avoided at all costs. If something has to be said to someone in the vicinity, do so when the concerned person is around.
Most of us spend more time at work than in our homes, so it is vital for colleagues to maintain cordial relationships at all times. Disputes must never be taken personally for they tend to affect everyone and aggravates tension and stress in the atmosphere.
If you are an active office politician, it is about time you did something more productive with all that precious time, because sending negative vibrations to others bounces back to you. You may find it thrilling for a while, but that feeling is only temporary. Deep within your subconscious mind, you are giving energy to negative vibrations that will gradually build a tower of negativity inside you. The outcome can be anything from strained relationships to devastating incidents.
At the end of the day, we are all trying to make a living and the last thing one needs is inviting negative energy into places where we need it the least.
Try smiling and passing positive comments genuinely instead. Avoid being dragged into any conversation that sends out negative vibrations. If people have been talking about you lately, turn a deaf ear and focus on your responsibilities. When you refuse to entertain doubts and fears of the rumors turning out to be true, believing that nothing negative can affect you as long as you remain positively charged,you will remain untouched by them.These are facts derived from years of observing the lives of others and mine. Light up those positive atoms and they will in turn light up your life!
Surviving Office Politics
Padam Jalaj Bansal
“And a gentleman who has joined the organisation with the aim of churning out better prospects and experience finds himself in a circus.” I have been fortunate to work at various places. From ‘start-up’ to ‘oldest national organisation’ and from ‘semi-corporate’ to ‘corporate’, everywhere fundamentals of human conduct are more or less same. It is being observed that nature of office workers can not be generalised but overall tenets of office politics are alike. The Greek philosopher Plato once said, "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber." Unfortunately it's just as true today as it was in ancient Greece two thousand years ago. If you are one of the millions of people who work in a cubicle within innumerable office complexes, sooner or later you'll find yourself caught in a power play of some kind whether you want to participate in it or not. Every work which we carry out should be backed with sense of objectivity and while working in office when we get deviated from professional objectives and drawing benefits beyond the limits then we become part of office politics. And gentlemen and nice ladies who abstain from it may become victims. I agree that it isn't always bad and it certainly isn't avoidable. Therefore we must learn to cope with it. Let’s face it, sometimes people fight dirty and are not easy to get along with. When it comes to promotions for example, the atmosphere in any office becomes tense. During review sessions hypocrisy replaces reality. One of your closest friends might take you for ride and to the worst become your enemy when it comes to advancement. If you refuse to be a part of dirty game, you may be bullied by next coming through door. Learn to stand-up and ready for a showdown at any time. Back-stabbing, leg pulling, credit-snatching and buttering has become order of the day. One must have thick skin and carefree temperament to bear them. No matter a job is big or small, golden rule is to do exemplary work. Some times negative competition brings pointing out of fake and unnecessary mistakes in your work. Be calm and tactful to handle these debased ploys. The best defence is to make sure that your colleagues are aware of your good work. When trouble arises they may be back-up to you. Sometimes one comes across with those who think themselves to be superior and wise. Let them think so and do not try to get them out of their fantasy otherwise they will be your enemies. Cope up with them with poise and made them believe that you respect them. Never shout or scream even if your co-worker yells at you. If you do so you will be taken as undisciplined and enraged worker. Observe all mannerism especially with your boss and ladies staff. The most important thing is to be good group person. ‘One for all and all for one’ is the norm of group. Never try to get the credit of achieving target even if you are instrumental, rather spread the credit to all group members. It will earn you the respect and confidence of group members. Remember you should be preparing yourself to defend yourself at any time. It is essential to keep yourself safe even if you do not want to create problems for others as you never know when sky falls and an innocent finds himself among tyrants. Rest, I strongly believe that we need not to change others; we should do introspection and change ourselves and if we are pious and laying ourselves as an exemplary professional then others also get transformed gradually.
Talent, loyalty and hard work are not enough to fulfil your career ambitions; you must also be able to negotiate office politics if you want to enhance your reputation and climb the career ladder
Talent, loyalty and hard work are not enough to fulfil your career ambitions; you must also be able to negotiate office politics if you want to enhance your reputation and climb the career ladder. Politicking is an occupational hazard that you cannot avoid. If you don’t play the game you could lose out on the promotion or raise that is rightfully yours.
British workers spend nearly an hour a day “gossiping”, research suggests. During that time a great deal of office mudslinging goes on – and you may be one of the targets. A study by the occupational education organisation Roffey Park suggests that almost 70% of managers in the UK have been the victims of duplicitous colleagues and employees.
Examples of office politics aren’t limited to gossiping. Employees are also prone to forming a power base of likeminded colleagues (known as networking), withholding useful information from rivals (the ‘no invitation’ trick), and taking credit for other people’s successes (called being a ‘creative magpie’).
Then there’s not stepping in when someone needs help (‘the bystander’), coercing a colleague via email by copying in the boss (‘email to the gods’) and making muddy promises of future rewards in return for distasteful tasks (‘jam tomorrow’).
Before you become a political animal yourself, it is wise to make yourself aware of the groups that exist in your workplace. People with similar mindsets tend to collaborate, and women are more likely to employ political tactics - though they are also more likely to be affected by similar behaviour from others.
In fact, women can often be the victims of double standards in the world of office politics. The techniques they use to enhance their image and therefore their career might also draw accusations of ‘attention seeking’ and selfishness.
However, your gender need not be a hindrance if you politick in the most refined of ways.
Once you have identified the motives of various people, you can enter the political fray of the office. Have a clear idea of your own agenda and then start networking. Gradually build relationships with people whom you feel can benefit you.
Subtlety and decency are vital. Being too obviously ‘persuasive’ – buying colleagues coffees and trading favours – will put you down as conniving. As will constantly schmoozing your superiors. Contrary to popular belief, members of senior management tend not to care for sycophants.
Office politics can be a source of good in an organisation. Roffey Park claims that ‘good’ politicking is when the individual and the organisation gain – or feel they have benefited – from political behaviour. ‘Bad’ politics is when “individuals are seen to succeed at the expense of others, and this is held to be damaging to the organisation’s interests”.
Being good means being straightforward in your approach to people. Be honest and tell people as much as you can as objectively as possible – even if it is not what the other person wants to hear - and don’t betray confidences. This should earn you people’s respect and trust. Being seen as a decent person by colleagues is more admirable and useful than having to blow your own trumpet.
Treat everyone with the same positive attitude, regardless of status or gender, to build empathy with people and allow you to then form useful relationships with those who share common interests or goals for themselves and the business.
Don’t give people reason to dislike you. Be punctual, polite and conscientious. Avoid gossip and flirting. Don’t hang on to other people’s tails, and don’t let anyone hang on to yours. If the office is full of posers and/or grovellers you are working in the wrong place and it’s time to move on to better things.
And finally, trust your instincts.
Enlightened Office Politics
By Michael Dobson and Deborah Dobson
Have you ever thought—or said— things like this? "I can't stand all the office politics in this company." "It's not what you know, it's who you know." "If you don't play the right games and eat lunch with the right people, you'll never get promoted." If you think these assertions are true, well, frankly, you're right. If you think they are necessarily bad—well, they certainly can be. One thing is certain: office politics is inevitable in every organization with three or more people in it. And you know you're faced with a choice: influencer or influenced, knowing or guessing, controller or controlled. If you don't like this choice, you probably believe that you have only two options—to be an unethical, manipulative swine or to be a saintly but helpless victim of forces beyond your comprehension or control. That's the essential dilemma of the principled person when faced with the reality of office politics in an organization. If you think your only alternatives are to give up your principles or to surrender your effectiveness and your job security, no wonder you think you have only terrible choices. In fact, being a principled person can make you more effective and more successful in the world of office politics, especially if you look at your situation in terms of your long-term goals and interests. What It Means to Be a Principled Person A principled person is one with a commitment to principled behavior—integrity—at the core. Principled people are honest, reliable, dependable and professional. They do what they say they will do. Principled people are individuals with a commitment to the organization for which they work. That means they have a shared vision of what the organization is and what it needs to be, and they are willing to commit themselves toward that goal even at the cost of their short-term advancement and success. A principled person has the skills and drive necessary to advance those goals within the boundaries of good character. Without the skills, without the work, without the effort, principles are simply hot air. A real principled person knows that the work counts and demonstrates a good work ethic about long-term as well as immediate job efforts. Being a principled person, however, does not mean renouncing power in all its forms. Principled people can still seek out power to further their goals without being ruthless or corrupt.
Why You Need PowerSuccess in politics involves the acquisition and use of power. The principled person often has an ethical concern about power. Is it morally acceptable to seek power? How you acquire and how you use power and the purposes for which you use your power are subject to ethical rules. The mere fact of power considered alone is morally and ethically neutral. There are six types of power within organizations:
Role power is the power inherent in your position. If you're a vice president or a clerk, a member of the executive committee or the picnic committee, if you're in the marketing department or building maintenance, your position in the organization is one measure of your power.
Respect power is the power you get from the opinions others hold about you. If you're respected for your knowledge, your skills, your record of accomplishment, your personal integrity, you gain power. There is a negative version of respect power: fear power.
Rhetoric power is the power you get from your communications ability. If you're persuasive, a good writer, able to speak publicly, a talented negotiator, you gain influence over others from that skill.
Resource power is the power that comes from what you control. If you have the power to approve someone's budget, to decide which projects are funded, to decide who gets access to mainframe computer resources, or to select who goes on the business trip to Paris, your control of these resources translates into political power.
Relationship power is the power that comes from whom you know and how you know them. If you're a golfing buddy of the chairman of the board, or the protégé of a vice president on the rise, or even friends with the right clerk in accounting, you get power on the basis of those relationships.
Reason or purpose power is the power you get from being goal-oriented. If you have a clear vision for your department or for the company, you automatically have more power and influence than someone who has no goal at all. This type of power is essential if you're going to be an ethical politician who isn't thought of by others as "political."
There are three key lessons you can draw from this discussion:
You don't have to be equally strong in all areas to be powerful.
The sources of power are interactive: Strength in one area influences all the others; weakness in one area detracts from all the others.
The core of power is in having a reason or purpose for its use and application.
What If You Decide Not to Play? Surely, if you do a good job, work hard, avoid political behavior, and stay honest and friendly, you'll be okay, right? Wrong. Deciding not to play office politics, unfortunately, turns you into a victim, someone who is helpless to respond or deal with the vicissitudes of the workplace. In today's competitive environment, this can lead to a layoff, or worse. Don't choose victimhood when you can choose success. Being a principled person necessarily means that you believe your principles matter. Failure—especially unnecessary failure—means not only that you suffer but that the principles and values you care about, the work you care about, and the people you care about do not advance. While a principled person normally doesn't seek out a fight, he or she should not shrink from one when it's necessary.
Adapted from Enlightened Office Politics by Michael S. Dobson and Deborah S. Dobson. Copyright 2001 Michael and Deborah Singer Dobson. Used by permission of the publisher, AMACOM, Division of American Management Association. Click here for more information about this book. Visit www.amacombooks.org for information on other AMACOM titles.
How to Avoid Office Hysteria
Starting a new job in an office is one good way to start a career. Because of group dynamics, peer pressure, and office politics, it can also deteriorate into something lonely, discouraging, and overly dramatic. You will find that many people have not moved on past the middle school or high school mentality. As a result, the grown-up office experience is more than they can handle. It is always best to avoid getting involved with office politics. Stay neutral and others will hopefully leave you alone. Or, all sides may gang up on you, so be prepared to handle that.
If you are entering a career in an office setting that is already full of immaturity and drama, you can do these things to avoid involving yourself:
How to Handle Verbal Abuse or an Office Bully
Don't take the nonsense personally. Don't get involved. Eventually, you will become a target, especially if you are good in your job and don't favor any "political" sector at work. You will at sometime become the next victim of hysteria aimed you way. Rather than accept the role of victim, just ignore it. Disengage yourself whenever someone tries to draw you into conversations or actions that will involve you in nonsense. When people look at you funny, just walk away. Never try to put an end to it, because such efforts will fuel the fires of hysteria. Withdraw you energies to someplace more suitable and productive.
Bring headphones and an iPod or Walkman. Listen to music or talk shows as you work and stay productive, ignoring distractions. You can also enjoy music you love during work time. This will force people that would otherwise try to engage you in chatter to find a different way to communicate with you. Hopefully, t they will disturb your work only if it's something important.
Identify the gossipers. You should observe office behaviors and interactions your first few days on the job and see that there are a couple of workers that instigate problems. Once you have that sorted out, avoid these people. Don't talk to them, don't socialize with them, don't; eat lunch with them, don't ride the elevator with them, and certainly don't go out for drinks with them. At company parties, ignore them. Prevent them form having any but the most minute first-hand knowledge about you. Then anything gossipy they say about you will be groundless.
Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. Get your story straight. Openly let all your coworkers know form your first day on the job that you aren't interested in trivial details. Be to the point and all business so that everyone will know you aren't into drama and will not participate. Your supervisor and boss will then see you as a potential promotional candidate for leadership.
Have fun in healthy ways. Don't let the drama queens get you down. Stay out of office politics, but talk with co-workers that are mature and level headed. Go out, have fun, and get to know them. When it comes time to spread rumors, stay out of it. If someone asks you if you know what the latest story is, just say you don't know and don't want to know.
Dealing with Office Politics
What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?
A reader asks about the pervasive problem of office politics. I'll begin my answer with some introductory remarks. Then I will share her e-mail so you get a sense of her overall situation. After that I will respond point by point. I have numbered the paragraphs in her e-mail so I can refer to their number, instead of repeating what she wrote. Finally, I will end with some concluding remarks.
I thank our reader for raising the important issue of office politics. The office environment is like a family environment. Coworkers, like family members, may experience rivalry, frustration, a struggle for recognition, and a desire to become leader of the pack. In the struggle to assert oneself, harsh words and devious deeds may take place. Yes, the struggle may be painful, but in your heart, how can you blame family members or coworkers for lashing out at you? After all, their criticism says less about you than it does about them. They act spitefully not because they are vicious at heart, but because they are scared, insecure, and feel under attack. When we awaken to this fact, it becomes easier to accept others and realize that we've got to learn how to get along if we wish to succeed in life.
Enough of an intro, let's move on to our reader's e-mail.
"I read about manipulative people and how we should not let them take advantage of us, and I read 'Nasty People' and how we should look at them (1).
"What if a colleague pretends to be busy. She told our boss that I am not working as hard as I should, and that I come to work late. She destroyed the opinion that my boss had of me, which was excellent. And she spends half of the day on the phone or working on her second job, which nobody knows about (2).
"What do you do when she decides to do only the work she thinks is important? And she even has the nerve to ask me to do trivial things. What do you do in such a case? Do you let her be or do you talk to somebody (3)?
"How do I erase the feelings of unfairness that destroy my peace of mind, undermine my status at work (4) and rob me of the benefits I should have (5)?
"This problem has been going on for four years now and it's a source of great stress and sadness for me. I often wanted to go to the boss and open his eyes but I don't want to nail anybody, and I would look like the one at fault. When I get compliments from people I work with or people that I help, she becomes unbearable. And I'm five years older than her with much more experience, and a higher I.Q. and E.Q. (6)
"Something else, I love people and my nature is to help them. That's why when I read articles and books about personal development, I want to share the word with all the people I know (7)."
Here are my comments to our reader. 1) Who do you suppose will be more successful in life, Mr. X who is reading "How to Get along with Others" or Mr. Y who is reading "How to Protect Yourself from Manipulative People"? Can you see how Mr. X is thinking about WE while Mr. Y is thinking about ME? Can you see how Mr. X is working from the assumption that all people are decent and worthy of friendship while Mr. Y believes others are out to get him and cannot be trusted? Are you surprised that Mr. X has many friends and feels in control of his life while Mr. Y is under stress, unhappy, and feels like a victim?
Attitude is everything. And attitude is a choice, whether subconscious or conscious. When we allow ourselves to react to events by automatically acting according to our feelings, we make our choices subconsciously. It is only when we are aware of our thoughts and feelings and think them through BEFORE we act that we make conscious choices. You can choose to change your attitude. You can choose to think like Mr. X. Here's how:
1. Become aware of your thoughts and feelings.2. Whenever you're feeling stressed, ask yourself, "How DO I feel about this?"
3. Ask yourself, "How would I LIKE to feel about this?"
4. Ask yourself, "How do I CHOOSE to feel about this?"
5. After making your decision, ask yourself, "How do I feel about this NOW?
Chances are you can bring about a change in attitude with this simple exercise. If you repeat it as often as necessary, you'll grow better and better each time. By changing the words in the exercise, you can also change your behavior. Just ask yourself the following questions: "What am I DOING about this? What would I LIKE to do about this? What do I CHOOSE to do about this? What am I going to do about this NOW?
Reread your words in paragraph 2. Can you see that what you are saying is that you are superior to your coworker? Do you really think you can harbor such thoughts without her being aware of how you feel? How do your feelings about her make her feel? If she feels threatened by you, it isn't surprising that she will attack in some way.
3) You need to direct your attention, not on your coworker or boss, but on yourself. Ask yourself what can you do to make their jobs easier. Don't you agree with George Elliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, 1819 ~ 1880) that "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"
4) You restore your peace of mind by opening your heart. Don't worry. you will be appreciated when you appreciate others. Remember, you have it in your power to destroy your 'enemies' by making them your friends.
(5) Regarding benefits you should have, don't confuse your accomplishments with entitlement. Of course you are doing a good job; that's why you have been hired and why you are being paid. But if you work on bringing harmony to the workplace, additional benefits may come your way.
(6) Whoops, there you go again saying you are superior. Don't belittle your coworker; after all, you have to be little to belittle. It's great that you have experience and a high I.Q. and E.Q., but people don't CARE how much you KNOW until they KNOW how much you CARE.
(7) Great! I'm sure you want to make a difference in the world. It's just that your own insecurities, suspicions, and judgments are blocking the way. What is true for you is also true for your coworker. Wouldn't it be helpful if some wise, thoughtful person could come along and reconcile the situation? Well, that special someone can be YOU. When you make that difference, like Lily Tomlin, you will say to yourself, "I always wondered why somebody doesn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody."
Finally, for an overall personal development tune-up, you may want to read:"SHUT UP, STOP WHINING & GET A LIFE, A Kick-Butt Approach to a Better Life"by Larry Winget.
I realize my advice may appear as "blame the victim," simplistic, unrealistic, and Pollyannaish. But it is based on personal experience and the experience of those I have mentored. People are decent and worthy of our support. Yes, some of them are wounded, and as a result act cruelly. But the worse of enemies can become the best of friends and your powerful ally. The answer my friend, is not blowing in the wind, it is lying in your heart. Open it.
If my comments were unexpected and painful, remember that what you have been doing wasn't working. If you want different results, you've got to do things differently. Your task, then, is to befriend everyone and gladly help all members of the team. Take a good second look at your coworker and ask yourself what you respect and admire about her. If you look for the good, you will find it. Also, ask yourself what is good about the situation you are now in. What can you learn from it? What good will come from it? Be thankful for your job and appreciative of your coworkers. And don't keep your gratitude secret; express it. When you befriend everyone, it is impossible to lose, for should you later decide to leave the company to advance your career, those you've helped will support you and act as references.
For more ideas on dealing with this problem, check out "YOU CAN WIN AT OFFICE POLITICS: Techniques, Tips, and Step-by-Step Plans for Coming Out Ahead by Robert I. Bell.
Also see "SECRETS TO WINNING AT OFFICE POLITICS: How to Achieve Your Goals and Increase Your Influence at Work" by Marie G. McIntyre.
10 ways to survive office politics
Office politics will never go away. It’s a fact of company life. However, destructive office politics can demoralize an organization, hamper productivity, and increase turnover. Here are some tips, applicable for both staff and management, on dealing with office politics.
Note: This information is also available as a PDF download.
#1: Live at peace with others
The easiest way to avoid problems with politics is to get along with people. I’m not saying you need to hug everyone and sing songs, and I’m not saying you have to be a pushover for everyone. You can be pleasant and professional, while at the same time being assertive when necessary. If you have a concern, focus only on the issue, not on the person. If you have to refuse a request, explain why and try to come up with alternative solutions.
Living at peace with others also means being careful about choosing sides during office power struggles. Aligning yourself with one faction or the other will prevent you from working effectively with people from the “other” side, thereby hampering your productivity and thus your performance. It’s even worse if “your” faction loses out. Instead, try to focus on your tasks, dealing with people in either faction on the basis of the tasks alone, and avoid talk on the political issue that separates the groups.
#2: Don’t talk out of school
Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.– Benjamin Franklin
Does your organization have issues? Have people told you things in confidence? Then keep those matters to yourself. Talking to outsiders about issues within your organization makes all of you look bad to that outsider. Furthermore, your boss or your boss’s boss will not appreciate that behavior. People will find out that you spoke about what they told you, and they’ll lose confidence in you and respect for you.
#3: Be helpful
We all have responsibilities and objectives, and those things should receive priority. Nonetheless, if it doesn’t take too much time, being helpful to others can reap benefits for you. Does someone need a ride in the direction you live? Did your co-worker leave headlights on in the parking lot? Is someone having trouble building an Excel macro? If you can help that person, especially if you can do so without taking too much of your time, you benefit yourself as well as the other person. By doing these things, you’re building political capital and loyalty. In doing so, you reduce the chances that you will be the victim of political intrigue.
#4: Stay away from gossip
I never repeat gossip, so listen carefully.— Old joke
Nothing destroys the dynamics of an office more than gossip. Stay away from it, because nothing good comes from it. Just be sure you avoid the “holier than thou” attitude of lecturing your co-workers on the evils of gossip. You’ll make them lose face, and they’ll resent you. Instead, try subtly changing the subject. For example, suppose the group is talking about Jane’s problems with her child, and of course Jane is absent from the group. Do some free association and try to come up with some topic that’s related to Jane or her child, but won’t involve gossip. Then, make a comment about that topic.
For instance, suppose you know that Jane’s child is involved in a sports league. Mention this fact, thereby linking the child and the league. Then, shift the conversation so that you’re now talking about the league rather than Jane’s child. You could ask when schedules will be published, or if they need parent volunteers. If you do it right, no one will even notice that you’ve moved them away from the gossip.
#5: Stay out of those talk-down-the-boss sessions
Suppose your co-workers start complaining about the boss. If you join in, it makes you look disloyal to the boss. If you don’t, it looks awkward in the group. What can you do? As with the situation of gossip, try changing the subject by linking the boss to another topic, then talking about that topic instead. Or you could simply respond to your co-workers with a smile and a tongue-in-cheek, “Come on, aren’t we exaggerating? [name of boss] really isn’t THAT bad.” Be careful, though, because it could be taken as an admission by you that the boss is bad.
#6: Be a straight arrow
The best way to keep out of trouble politically is to be seen as someone who doesn’t play office politics — in other words, a straight arrow. Do what you say you’re going to do, alert people to problems, and admit your mistakes. Others will respect you, even if they don’t always agree with you. More important, you have a lower chance of being a victim of politics.
#7: Address the “politics” issue openly when appropriate
Many times, when I do organizational assessments, I sense anxiety on the part of client staff. To address this anxiety, I tell people I interview that I’m not there to get people fired. I’m there to help the organization function better. It might not completely allay their fears and suspicions, but at least I’ve brought up the issue and addressed it.
Think about doing the same thing if you believe politics is an underlying theme at your company. Tell people you’re not interested in scoring political points but only in getting the job done. It might not work, but unless you bring the matter up, there’s no chance at all that they will believe you. So if a co-worker is unavailable, and you have to act on that person’s behalf, consider saying to that person, “I had to act because of your absence. I wasn’t trying to go behind your back and I wasn’t trying to show you up.”
#8: Document things
Nothing saves a job or career more than having a written record. If you believe a matter will come back to haunt you, make sure you keep a record of the matter, either via e-mail or document. Documentation is also an effective way to highlight of your own accomplishments, which can help you when your performance evaluation is conducted.
#9: Set incentives to foster teamwork
If you’re a manager or senior executive, take a close look at your incentives. Are you unwittingly setting up your staff to work against each other? Do your metrics address only individual departments, or do they also address how departments could benefit the larger organization?
For example, suppose the hardware department of Sears reduced all its prices by half. If you measured only profitability of the department, you would conclude that it is performing horribly. However, that measurement would neglect to account for increased volume in all other departments because of the hardware department.
If you reward employees in a department based only on how well that department does, you may inadvertently cause destructive competition among departments. Each one will be competing against every other one, and all the departments could end up in a worse position. To minimize this possibility, give employees incentives based not only on department results but on organization results as well. That way, employees from different departments have more motivation to work together and less motivation to engage in destructive politics.
#10: Set an example for your staff
People in an organization look to leadership to see how to act. Do you want your staff to refrain from negative politics? Do you want to see collaboration and teamwork instead of petty rivalries, jealousy, and back-stabbing? Act the way you want your staff to act, and they will follow you.
Daniel 6—The story of Daniel in the lion’s den
Here is a case of a Bible story that is extremely pertinent to everyday adult life that has been trivialized and cutesified for us in Sunday School class when we were little. In fact, it’s so familiar, I don’t think I need to quote it for you here. You probably remember that Daniel was thrown into a den of lions by some mean old person, but because he prayed and because he was a Good Guy, the lions suddenly decided he wasn’t tasty and didn’t eat him.
But in reality, Daniel was the victim of some pretty vicious office politics.
If you examine this passage again, you will find that Daniel and the king were very chummy, and that several of Daniel’s rivals were very jealous. In fact, Daniel was about to be made their manager, something which they couldn’t stand. So they plotted about how to out-maneuver him, but they couldn’t find any dirt, because Daniel was such a goody two-shoes that they had nothing to bring against him.
“I’ll bet the only way we’ll ever trip him up is in his religion,” they said, “and what good will that do us?”
So they hit upon the idea of looking at his personal religious beliefs. Now Daniel was a Jew, and as a Jew he could only worship and pray to the One True God, which he did, three times a day. But Daniel’s rivals thought up a nice, patriotic-sounding law that restricted all petitions and prayers to the king alone under penalty of death. Then they tricked the king into making it into a royal decree to go into effect for one month.
Of course, Daniel continued his daily prayers. Daniel’s enemies, seeing that Daniel had fallen right into their trap, brought this matter to the attention of the king, who was greatly distressed by this unforeseen consequence of the law he had decreed. But Daniel’s enemies pressed him, recalling the legal principle that there are no exceptions to the law. The king found himself bound by his own law to punish Daniel, his friend.
The king was as terrified as Daniel was when Daniel entered the lion’s den. It is a terrible thing to be manipulated into position where you must bring about the demise of a person you admire and trust! When the time was up, the king rushed to the lion’s den at the earliest possible moment, and found that Daniel had survived. Then Daniel’s enemies were punished for their treachery.
Now I want you to notice some things:
People who are good at office politics are very good at exploiting other people’s integrity against them. In other words, the only way they could take advantage of you in the first place is because your integrity makes you predictable. Take some consolation in the fact that your troubles come, not from your weakness, but from your virtue.
In office politics, the person who seems to be your immediate enemy might really be your friend who was out-maneuvered. If you don’t jump to conclusions, this might work out to your advantage. Notice that Daniel never once accused the king of intransigence.
In office politics, the bad guys always work in groups and go strictly by the book, writing the book if necessary. They patiently lay the trap long in advance, using proper procedures to do it. You didn’t see it coming, but it was long in coming.
God did not spare Daniel from the lion’s den. He had to go in it. It was terrifying for Daniel and his friend the king. In the same way, God has never guaranteed that the going will not get rough. However, you are assured that when the going does get rough, the outcome will be okay if you trust God.
God did not give the king special wisdom to figure out some procedural loophole to spare Daniel. There was no magical shortcut for them, there was no magical shortcut for Jesus when He faced the cross, and there is no magical shortcut for you when you face trouble. Jesus doesn’t give you a remedy for hard times; He reveals a purpose for them.
Avoiding adversity is not as good as overcoming adversity. In this case, Daniel’s religion was vindicated, the king came to see the power of God, and the truth was proclaimed throughout the land. None of these things would have happened if Daniel had avoided the lion’s den.
God is interested in everybody, not just the faithful. if God had intervened so that Daniel wouldn’t have had to enter the lion’s den, Daniel would have been edified, but no one else. As it turned out, by putting Daniel through some anxiety, many people benefited. (Daniel’s enemies were losers no matter what happened, but I’m sure they knew their plan could backfire, and they took the risk.)
The lions weren’t Jewish and yet they did not harm Daniel. Our God is not just the God of the good guys; we worship the God of all things and all people. Before Jesus ascended, He assured us that He has all power in heaven and on Earth. So when your heart is troubled in your own lion’s den, remember that He reigns not just over true believers, but over the lions as well. Jesus has overcome the world.
So the next time you are out maneuvered in office politics, and the people whom you thought were your friends find themselves consigning you to the lion’s den under political pressure, take heart. Trust in God, and don’t let your perceptions be distorted. The lions won’t hurt you, and you can come out a winner.
Office Politics
” I hate office politics” said the young lady. “I have been working for the last 3 years and it’s getting from bad to worse. I wish I could join a company where there is no office politics”.
Wishful thinking indeed. Even if she were to search all over the wide world, she is unlikely to find an organization which does not have its share of “politics”. This may vary in degree. In some organizations, it is the way of life, as it were. In others, it surfaces from time to time when major decisions are to be taken. Some may be more covert than others but you can bet it is lurking somewhere there in the organization.
Lily Garcia in the Washington Post says “politics” is people jockeying for position or power, sometimes through unscrupulous or disingenuous means.
Since you can’t wish it away, I suggest you become adept at dealing with politics. Otherwise, it may become altogether too frustrating to you to find that the credit for your good work has gone to someone else or that you have been assigned the worst territory since you had no one to bat for you.
I am not for encouraging politics. I am certainly against using it to put down others. All that I am saying is that you should not become a victim of it, as happens to thousands all over the world, in organizations -big or small.
Understand your environment and the people who matter. Observe the “rules of the game” at your place of work. Being opposed to office politics does not mean you should not look after your interests.
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This is the 166 th of the “A Step A Day” series : To provide perspective and provoke thought to facilitate self-development across a wide spectrum of issues- big and small- crucial for executive success
Monday, March 02, 2009
He's not into you
Here is a comedy adpated froma self-help book which i did not picture myself watching it. After all, I am not the gal who is hankering for a relationship.
Nonetheless, out of sheer deprivation of laughter, i decided to give it a try.
Well,not so bad. It illustrates the signals that men and women gave to each other, often the wrong interpretation arises.
There are some trends which i found fasinating.
1) In a group there will be a relationship expert with friends. most people will consult them on interpretation of signals and most of the time they are wrong.
2) men dun like to be pushed into marriage. Must manipulate to think they are the one to do th askin. men who are given ultimatum are still undecided. it is risky to build marriage that way.
so boring but people fell for it.......
Nonetheless, out of sheer deprivation of laughter, i decided to give it a try.
Well,not so bad. It illustrates the signals that men and women gave to each other, often the wrong interpretation arises.
There are some trends which i found fasinating.
1) In a group there will be a relationship expert with friends. most people will consult them on interpretation of signals and most of the time they are wrong.
2) men dun like to be pushed into marriage. Must manipulate to think they are the one to do th askin. men who are given ultimatum are still undecided. it is risky to build marriage that way.
so boring but people fell for it.......
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Wine
I have always been fascinated with wines especially red wine.
I like those wines with no trace of alcohol, fruity yet flavourful.
Found some terms on wine tasting. Din know that there are a whole lot of knowledge behind it.
Variental tasting:
build around single grape eg sauvigon blanc. Places producing wine from this grape are gathered and tasted.
Regional tasting:
Wine from particular region.
Vertical Tasting:
A group of wine same in every way except vintage.
Ad Hoc tasting:
gather wine with rationale
How to taste, is to cover up the name and taste . After comparison find the out u like and taste it.
2-3 sips is enoughl.
Provide crackers and plenty of water to rinse mouth. Place stainless steel buckets to let peopl empty the wine they dun one after tasting.
I like those wines with no trace of alcohol, fruity yet flavourful.
Found some terms on wine tasting. Din know that there are a whole lot of knowledge behind it.
Variental tasting:
build around single grape eg sauvigon blanc. Places producing wine from this grape are gathered and tasted.
Regional tasting:
Wine from particular region.
Vertical Tasting:
A group of wine same in every way except vintage.
Ad Hoc tasting:
gather wine with rationale
How to taste, is to cover up the name and taste . After comparison find the out u like and taste it.
2-3 sips is enoughl.
Provide crackers and plenty of water to rinse mouth. Place stainless steel buckets to let peopl empty the wine they dun one after tasting.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire
When I saw the movie title and the hype it created on the newspapers, I was like hmm..another low-budget film that scored big..just like the title suggest, it is an underdog.
Well,I thought to myself, maybe I should watch it which I did in the end out of boredom.
I saw a few things that's noteworthy.
1) Since it was set in India, naturally there is a play and manipulation of the class division in India. As in all the thematic play there is always a contrast. The good, angel vs the bad,devil. In this case, it is the lower class who is the angel as portrayed by the boy Jamal while the bad are those usual thugs, rich and upper class who wants to prevent him from succeeding. But Jamal's perserverance paid off. Shows the lower social strata of India pretty well. The poor will do whatever they takes to succeed including cheating, lying and stealing. How oppression of the poor arise. The income difference between the poor areas and rich areas of India.
2) Based on the gameshow, Who wants to be a millionaire. It is a caucasian show which symbolise equality and fair chance to everyone regardless of class. Jamal is able to join it as it is a liberation for all classes. It is a reality show that show the true human side which the show did. The smirky face of the TV host, that policeman and the thugs, the religious riots.
3) The story unfolds according to the questions asked which pulls memories out of Jamal's memory lane. Very nice way of creating story though it may look confusing to people if they do not pay attention.
4) The way thugs use the children of poor. Feed them so that they can make healthy children disabled and earn money for them. There is abuse of children and child labour.
5) I believe this is a production not out of Bollywood because there is not much dancing and running around the tree which is essential in Bollywood films even though the ending has the dancing.
Quite a startling show. I must say that for people who likes tale-spinning, a good storyline and content is better than any other stuff put together perfectly.
Well,I thought to myself, maybe I should watch it which I did in the end out of boredom.
I saw a few things that's noteworthy.
1) Since it was set in India, naturally there is a play and manipulation of the class division in India. As in all the thematic play there is always a contrast. The good, angel vs the bad,devil. In this case, it is the lower class who is the angel as portrayed by the boy Jamal while the bad are those usual thugs, rich and upper class who wants to prevent him from succeeding. But Jamal's perserverance paid off. Shows the lower social strata of India pretty well. The poor will do whatever they takes to succeed including cheating, lying and stealing. How oppression of the poor arise. The income difference between the poor areas and rich areas of India.
2) Based on the gameshow, Who wants to be a millionaire. It is a caucasian show which symbolise equality and fair chance to everyone regardless of class. Jamal is able to join it as it is a liberation for all classes. It is a reality show that show the true human side which the show did. The smirky face of the TV host, that policeman and the thugs, the religious riots.
3) The story unfolds according to the questions asked which pulls memories out of Jamal's memory lane. Very nice way of creating story though it may look confusing to people if they do not pay attention.
4) The way thugs use the children of poor. Feed them so that they can make healthy children disabled and earn money for them. There is abuse of children and child labour.
5) I believe this is a production not out of Bollywood because there is not much dancing and running around the tree which is essential in Bollywood films even though the ending has the dancing.
Quite a startling show. I must say that for people who likes tale-spinning, a good storyline and content is better than any other stuff put together perfectly.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The curious case of Benjamin Button
At first I am really curious at what the title of the film suggest.
The life of someone, what is so interesting about them?
Not to say that they are'nt interesting, everyone is unique, but what is so extraordinary of about this guy?
Is he a celebrity? A politican?
Well, he is not.
Simply put, fate has its twist on this poor soul called Benjamin Button.
His mother died at childbirth, father abandoned him due to his disease and watched him at a distance until he is dying. He has to abandon his love of his life due to this strange disease. He does'nt feel love. He came out as a crinkly old man baby and died as a youthful dementia baby.
I find the film somewhat long. I sat at the theatre for 3hours.
Some things are really interesting in the film.
1. Like how the old grand clock's second hand is moving anti-clockwise and sort of in sync with Benjamin Button's life.
2. some comic relief from an old man who relay the story of how he was struck by the lightning 7 times.
3. Nice make-up..Really show the contrast between different stages in life.
4. Really poignant moments at times when Benjamin sat with his father at the pier watching sunrise after acknowledging him and when Benjamin was playing with his daughter, knowing he has to leave the 2 out of 3 most important women in his life because he refuse to burden them as he ages. Finally, when he had dementia in a child-form and Daisy has to take care of him.
5. Somewhat like one of the Hong Kong movies that Any Lau starred in. Made in recent years i believe. Cant really remember.
6. Shed some positive light on the African Americans when they accepted Benjamin as who he was while his biological father actually abandoned him.
7. Set in New Orleans, when Hurricane Katrina hits.
This flim made me think quite a bit.
I will think about the possibilities in life. We do not know if it is possible until we muster up our courage and try again just like the lover of Benjamin who tried to swim across the English Channel in her old age after she failed to do so in her youth.
Even though family's love is in abundance, at some point in life, one still has to go alone.
Even though everything bad happened to one, it does not mean the end of life. Things like disease, growing up with old dying people, people's opinion of you due to appearance and so on, are not what one can control. It is how to deal with it positively and face it positively. Have faith in yourself and everything will roll in jsut fine.
Love is never about race. People cared for each other regardless of race like how Queenie takes care of Benjamin.
Love is also about sacrifice. Benjamin could not bear himself to burden anyone like his foster mum,Queenie and his love of his life, Daisy. He choose to leave, making them feel dislike for him so that they can carry on with their lives. I feel this way of leaving them is a tough decision to make. One will feel double the pain - being misunderstood and having to leave loved ones.
This film will definitely set people thinking about their lives...
The life of someone, what is so interesting about them?
Not to say that they are'nt interesting, everyone is unique, but what is so extraordinary of about this guy?
Is he a celebrity? A politican?
Well, he is not.
Simply put, fate has its twist on this poor soul called Benjamin Button.
His mother died at childbirth, father abandoned him due to his disease and watched him at a distance until he is dying. He has to abandon his love of his life due to this strange disease. He does'nt feel love. He came out as a crinkly old man baby and died as a youthful dementia baby.
I find the film somewhat long. I sat at the theatre for 3hours.
Some things are really interesting in the film.
1. Like how the old grand clock's second hand is moving anti-clockwise and sort of in sync with Benjamin Button's life.
2. some comic relief from an old man who relay the story of how he was struck by the lightning 7 times.
3. Nice make-up..Really show the contrast between different stages in life.
4. Really poignant moments at times when Benjamin sat with his father at the pier watching sunrise after acknowledging him and when Benjamin was playing with his daughter, knowing he has to leave the 2 out of 3 most important women in his life because he refuse to burden them as he ages. Finally, when he had dementia in a child-form and Daisy has to take care of him.
5. Somewhat like one of the Hong Kong movies that Any Lau starred in. Made in recent years i believe. Cant really remember.
6. Shed some positive light on the African Americans when they accepted Benjamin as who he was while his biological father actually abandoned him.
7. Set in New Orleans, when Hurricane Katrina hits.
This flim made me think quite a bit.
I will think about the possibilities in life. We do not know if it is possible until we muster up our courage and try again just like the lover of Benjamin who tried to swim across the English Channel in her old age after she failed to do so in her youth.
Even though family's love is in abundance, at some point in life, one still has to go alone.
Even though everything bad happened to one, it does not mean the end of life. Things like disease, growing up with old dying people, people's opinion of you due to appearance and so on, are not what one can control. It is how to deal with it positively and face it positively. Have faith in yourself and everything will roll in jsut fine.
Love is never about race. People cared for each other regardless of race like how Queenie takes care of Benjamin.
Love is also about sacrifice. Benjamin could not bear himself to burden anyone like his foster mum,Queenie and his love of his life, Daisy. He choose to leave, making them feel dislike for him so that they can carry on with their lives. I feel this way of leaving them is a tough decision to make. One will feel double the pain - being misunderstood and having to leave loved ones.
This film will definitely set people thinking about their lives...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Digital Overload Is Frying Our Brains
Here is another one which I totally agree with. This article from Wired.com.
Paying attention isn't a simple act of self-discipline, but a cognitive ability with deep neurobiological roots — and this complex faculty, says Maggie Jackson, is being woefully undermined by how we're living.
In Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, Jackson explores the effects of "our high-speed, overloaded, split-focus and even cybercentric society" on attention. It's not a pretty picture: a never-ending stream of phone calls, e-mails, instant messages, text messages and tweets is part of an institutionalized culture of interruption, and makes it hard to concentrate and think creatively.
Of course, every modern age is troubled by its new technologies. "The telegraph might have done just as much to the psyche [of] Victorians as the Blackberry does to us," said Jackson. "But at the same time, that doesn't mean that nothing has changed. The question is, how do we confront our own challenges?"
Wired.com talked to Jackson about attention and its loss.
Wired.com: Is there an actual scientific basis of attention?
Maggie Jackson: In the last 30 or 40 years, scientists have made inroads into understanding its underlying mechanisms and physiology. Attention is now considered an organ system. It has its own circuitry in the brain, and there are specialized networks carrying out its different forms. Each is very specific and can be traced through neuroimaging and even some genetic research.
While there is still debate among attention scientists, most now conclude that there are three types of attention. The first is orienting — the flashlight of your mind. In the case of visual attention, it involves parts of the brain including the parietal lobe, a brain area related to sensory processing. To orient to new stimuli, two parts of the parietal lobe work with brain sections related to frontal eye fields. This is what develops in an infants' brain, allowing them to focus on something new in their environment.
The second type of attention spans the spectrum of response states, from sleepiness to complete alertness. The third type is executive attention: planning, judgment, resolving conflicting information. The heart of this is the anterior cingulate — an ancient, tiny part of the brain that is now at the heart of our higher-order skills. It's executive attention that lets us move us beyond our impulsive selves, to plan for the future and understand abstraction.
We are programmed to be interrupted. We get an adrenalin jolt when orienting to new stimuli: Our body actually rewards us for paying attention to the new. So in this very fast-paced world, it's easy and tempting to always react to the new thing. But when we live in a reactive way, we minimize our capacity to pursue goals.
Wired.com: What does it mean to be distracted?
Jackson: Literally, it means to be pulled away to something secondary. There's also an a interesting, archaic definition that fell out of favor in the 18th century: being pulled to pieces, being scattered. I think that's a lovely term.
Our society right now is filled with lovely distractions — we have so much portable escapism and mediated fantasy — but that's just one issue. The other is interruption — multitasking, the fragmentation of thought and time. We're living in highly interrupted ways. Studies show that information workers now switch tasks an average of every three minutes throughout the day. Of course that's what we have to do to live in this complicated world.
Wired.com: How do these interruptions affect us?
Jackson: This degree of interruption is correlated with stress and frustration and lowered creativity. That makes sense. When you're scattered and diffuse, you're less creative. When your times of reflection are always punctured, it's hard to go deeply into problem-solving, into relating, into thinking.
These are the problems of attention in our new world. Gadgets and technologies give us extraordinary opportunities, the potential to connect and to learn. At the same time, we've created a culture, and are making choices, that undermine our powers of attention.
Wired.com: Has a direct link been measured between interruptions and neurophysiology?
Jackson: Interruptions are correlated with stress, and a cascade of stress hormones accompany that state of being. Stress, frustration and lowered creativity are pretty toxic. And there are studies showing how the environment shapes brain development in kids.
But I can't say if attention fragmentation really rewires our brains. When you sit at a desk for six hours multitasking like a maniac, are you actually rewiring parts of your attention networks? That's difficult to say right now.
Wired.com: Is establishing that link the next scientific step?
Jackson: It's one priority for future research. Right now, the field of attention science is especially concerned with attention development in children. The networks develop at different paces. Orienting is largely in place by kindergarten. The executive network is largely in place by age 8, but it develops until the mid-20s. Understanding the sweet spots for helping kids develop attention is where the science is at.
Wired.com: So adults are out of luck?
Jackson: We do know that people's attention networks can be trained, though we're not sure how long-lasting the gains are. There are exercises and computer games designed to strengthen attention, sometimes by boosting short-term memory.
The only sort training going on now in the office world is meditation-based, and that's being used more for stress rather than to boost attention, although it does do that. In terms of mainstream research, there's nothing I'm aware of that's being done to help the average adult, though there's tremendous interest in what's possible.
But there are ways to cut back on the multitasking and interruptions, shaping your own environment and work style so that you better use your attentional networks. If you have a difficult problem or a conundrum to solve, you need to think about where you work best. Right now, people hope they'll be able to think or create or problem-solve in the midst of a noisy, cluttered environment. Quiet is a starting point.
The other important thing is to discuss interruption as an environmental question and collective social issue. In our country, stillness and reflection are not especially valued in the workplace. The image of success is the frenetic multitasker who doesn't have time and is constantly interrupted. By striving towards this model of inattention, we're doing ourselves a tremendous injustice.
Wired.com: The subtitle of your book predicts a "coming dark age." Do you really believe this?
Jackson: Dark ages are times of forgetting, when the advancements of the past are underutilized. If we forget how to use our powers of deep focus, we'll depend more on black-and-white thinking, on surface ideas, on surface relationships. That breeds a tremendous potential for tyranny and misunderstanding. The possibility of an attention-deficient future society is very sobering.
Comments:
I do often feel distracted and frankly speaking overloaded. It is unlike the case of TV channel surfing where u just ignore the channel if there are ads.
Afterall, TV channels have 2 most general type of information either TV programmes or ads.
But internet is different.There are thousand and one types of information and it is difficult to absorb.
It is like every one is screaming for ur attention and if you miss one, you might miss the critical piece to decipher the rest.
It is never easy to be Gen Y onwards.
Paying attention isn't a simple act of self-discipline, but a cognitive ability with deep neurobiological roots — and this complex faculty, says Maggie Jackson, is being woefully undermined by how we're living.
In Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, Jackson explores the effects of "our high-speed, overloaded, split-focus and even cybercentric society" on attention. It's not a pretty picture: a never-ending stream of phone calls, e-mails, instant messages, text messages and tweets is part of an institutionalized culture of interruption, and makes it hard to concentrate and think creatively.
Of course, every modern age is troubled by its new technologies. "The telegraph might have done just as much to the psyche [of] Victorians as the Blackberry does to us," said Jackson. "But at the same time, that doesn't mean that nothing has changed. The question is, how do we confront our own challenges?"
Wired.com talked to Jackson about attention and its loss.
Wired.com: Is there an actual scientific basis of attention?
Maggie Jackson: In the last 30 or 40 years, scientists have made inroads into understanding its underlying mechanisms and physiology. Attention is now considered an organ system. It has its own circuitry in the brain, and there are specialized networks carrying out its different forms. Each is very specific and can be traced through neuroimaging and even some genetic research.
While there is still debate among attention scientists, most now conclude that there are three types of attention. The first is orienting — the flashlight of your mind. In the case of visual attention, it involves parts of the brain including the parietal lobe, a brain area related to sensory processing. To orient to new stimuli, two parts of the parietal lobe work with brain sections related to frontal eye fields. This is what develops in an infants' brain, allowing them to focus on something new in their environment.
The second type of attention spans the spectrum of response states, from sleepiness to complete alertness. The third type is executive attention: planning, judgment, resolving conflicting information. The heart of this is the anterior cingulate — an ancient, tiny part of the brain that is now at the heart of our higher-order skills. It's executive attention that lets us move us beyond our impulsive selves, to plan for the future and understand abstraction.
We are programmed to be interrupted. We get an adrenalin jolt when orienting to new stimuli: Our body actually rewards us for paying attention to the new. So in this very fast-paced world, it's easy and tempting to always react to the new thing. But when we live in a reactive way, we minimize our capacity to pursue goals.
Wired.com: What does it mean to be distracted?
Jackson: Literally, it means to be pulled away to something secondary. There's also an a interesting, archaic definition that fell out of favor in the 18th century: being pulled to pieces, being scattered. I think that's a lovely term.
Our society right now is filled with lovely distractions — we have so much portable escapism and mediated fantasy — but that's just one issue. The other is interruption — multitasking, the fragmentation of thought and time. We're living in highly interrupted ways. Studies show that information workers now switch tasks an average of every three minutes throughout the day. Of course that's what we have to do to live in this complicated world.
Wired.com: How do these interruptions affect us?
Jackson: This degree of interruption is correlated with stress and frustration and lowered creativity. That makes sense. When you're scattered and diffuse, you're less creative. When your times of reflection are always punctured, it's hard to go deeply into problem-solving, into relating, into thinking.
These are the problems of attention in our new world. Gadgets and technologies give us extraordinary opportunities, the potential to connect and to learn. At the same time, we've created a culture, and are making choices, that undermine our powers of attention.
Wired.com: Has a direct link been measured between interruptions and neurophysiology?
Jackson: Interruptions are correlated with stress, and a cascade of stress hormones accompany that state of being. Stress, frustration and lowered creativity are pretty toxic. And there are studies showing how the environment shapes brain development in kids.
But I can't say if attention fragmentation really rewires our brains. When you sit at a desk for six hours multitasking like a maniac, are you actually rewiring parts of your attention networks? That's difficult to say right now.
Wired.com: Is establishing that link the next scientific step?
Jackson: It's one priority for future research. Right now, the field of attention science is especially concerned with attention development in children. The networks develop at different paces. Orienting is largely in place by kindergarten. The executive network is largely in place by age 8, but it develops until the mid-20s. Understanding the sweet spots for helping kids develop attention is where the science is at.
Wired.com: So adults are out of luck?
Jackson: We do know that people's attention networks can be trained, though we're not sure how long-lasting the gains are. There are exercises and computer games designed to strengthen attention, sometimes by boosting short-term memory.
The only sort training going on now in the office world is meditation-based, and that's being used more for stress rather than to boost attention, although it does do that. In terms of mainstream research, there's nothing I'm aware of that's being done to help the average adult, though there's tremendous interest in what's possible.
But there are ways to cut back on the multitasking and interruptions, shaping your own environment and work style so that you better use your attentional networks. If you have a difficult problem or a conundrum to solve, you need to think about where you work best. Right now, people hope they'll be able to think or create or problem-solve in the midst of a noisy, cluttered environment. Quiet is a starting point.
The other important thing is to discuss interruption as an environmental question and collective social issue. In our country, stillness and reflection are not especially valued in the workplace. The image of success is the frenetic multitasker who doesn't have time and is constantly interrupted. By striving towards this model of inattention, we're doing ourselves a tremendous injustice.
Wired.com: The subtitle of your book predicts a "coming dark age." Do you really believe this?
Jackson: Dark ages are times of forgetting, when the advancements of the past are underutilized. If we forget how to use our powers of deep focus, we'll depend more on black-and-white thinking, on surface ideas, on surface relationships. That breeds a tremendous potential for tyranny and misunderstanding. The possibility of an attention-deficient future society is very sobering.
Comments:
I do often feel distracted and frankly speaking overloaded. It is unlike the case of TV channel surfing where u just ignore the channel if there are ads.
Afterall, TV channels have 2 most general type of information either TV programmes or ads.
But internet is different.There are thousand and one types of information and it is difficult to absorb.
It is like every one is screaming for ur attention and if you miss one, you might miss the critical piece to decipher the rest.
It is never easy to be Gen Y onwards.