Worker politics otherwise known as office politics can appear anywhere. Often found in offices, other work places are not immune, especially retail, factories and transport. Why is it that some people are so wired to get ahead they’d do anything to anyone to get there?
I don’t have the answer, though I have a lot of experience on the receiving end of other peoples agendas.
This week I was chatting with an old friend, I say chatting, we were in fact txting over What’s app (who actually talks anymore? 😎). We touched on the subject of back stabbing and office politics. It reminded me of the journey I’m still on (it’s a continuous one) to limit the effect of other peoples power and agendas, a journey that started way back in school. I’ve mastered some aspects over the years, though even now I still have to walk out of a building and sit in a cafe to get away from specific situations and people. I do this to remind myself of what’s important and how best to respond.
So what are worker politics? In an age where knowledge is valued over delivering something tangible, politics exist because what gets measured gets done. More often than not what gets measured is some form of target requiring individual accomplishment over team accomplishment. Or worse still, an undefined direction / lack of vision from leadership, resulting in personal agendas, backstabbing and highlighting ones self over others.
The worst politics I’ve been unfortunate enough to experience were back in the Steve Ballmer Microsoft years. Where stack ranking people was the number 1 method for handing out rewards. It was a tough time and I almost left the company several times.
If you work somewhere that measures peoples accomplishments by comparing them to others, rather than measuring peoples impact across areas such as contribution to others, leveraging others and wider customer experience, then I hope you’re doing ok as you’re in a place I never want to return too.
So how have I survived so far? Or as one person recently put it ‘how do I stay so calm?’ Well the answer is that on the inside I’m still hurting, yet I’m working on the Viktor E. Frankl principle that “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom” i.e we can make space (seconds, minutes, hours) and choose to respond internally and / or externally in the best way we can (which can sometimes be not responding at all).
Strangely however, the main source of my knowledge on how to best deal with worker politics and then put solutions into action, has actually come from television. TV shows are dramatic in order to get viewers, and there are some spectacular ones I’ve enjoyed watching and learning from in regards to back stabbers, personal agendas and the politics of life.
So below are, in my opinion the most effective TV shows at helping you see and navigate those nasty situations you may (hopefully not) encounter:
- The House of Cards (the original UK one and the US reboot)
- The West Wing
- The Shield
- The Good Wife
- The Good Fight (particularly good for seeing how decent people can overcome others lying and backstabbing)
- Studio 60 on the sunset strip
- The Newsroom
There are plenty more, like The Sopranos, The Wire, Better Call Saul etc. yet the above list contains my favourites as they encompass drama with humour. They are also very good at helping build a moral compass and understanding of all the different types of people and motivations you may encounter in life.
So if you watch TV and are interested in better survival of worker politics, you could do worse than watch any or all of the above. In the unlikely event you’ve not seen any of them yet then I recommend starting light with The Newsroom and The Good Fight.
Enjoy!
Note: From a book perspective I can recommend Oliver James’ book Office Politics: How to Thrive in a World of Lying, Backstabbing and Dirty Tricks