Office Politicos: A Field Guide | BNET

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• Zymas07/12/07 Report as spam
  1

  Gender Politics

  Interesting and humorous article with great illustrations. It's a bit offensive however that all the positive archetypes are female and all the negative ones are male. That just doesn't jive with reality.

• jdenton@...10/25/07 Report as spam
  2

  Gender

  Gordon Gecko isn't a positive archetype?

• mholzworth07/12/07 Report as spam
  3

  You Forgot a couple

  The Cry baby/Whiner
  
  The Work-a-holic

• Shamrocks07/12/07 Report as spam
  4

  Office Politics

  Humorous and enlightening. Tells us as much about who and what to avoid as it opens up ideas in how to better relate to all office employees. Let's not forget the Mediator and the Smiling Servent.

• eekf07/12/07 Report as spam
  5

  What to do..

  Interesting, though I believe most people adapt their styles in different situations.
  
  What do you do if the BIG boss and main shareholder mostly acts like a Sidekick?

• Pete Malpass07/13/07 Report as spam
  6

  Have you read Torbert - HBR, 4/05?

  Read Rooke and Torbert, Harvard Business Review, Apr05, "Seven Transformations of Leadership." You'll see the real 7 possible types of people in the office, based on 30+ years of research, but it's not so obvious how to manage or cope with some of them. The first 3 stages don't take or use feedback. Stage 4 does somewhat. The last 3 stages compose 7% of the population and they're the ones who get 2/3 of the work done when it involves collaboration to stick. Torbert's book, "Action Inquiry" provides "how to grow" stages. Short and cheap on Amazon.

• tricia.harney@...07/21/07 Report as spam
  7

  Torbert's book, "Action Inquiry"

  Thanks, Pete, I'll look into this publication.

• jion08/06/07 Report as spam
  8

  Torbert

  Sounds like a decent book based on scientific observation of people. Not that anecdotal wisdom on this subject is to far off. But it is probably a good idea to base decisions on sound observations and methodology.
  
  That being said the article is still great.

• BTDA07/15/07 Report as spam
  9

  The more things change, the more they remain the same...

  I have yet to read the Torbert article, but am looking forward to doing so. Many years ago, I facilitated "Group Dynamics" workshops under the umbrella of improving organizational and leadership effectiveness (the term "Group Dynamics" should give you an idea how long ago that was). As a consultant and a professor of management today, I am amused by how much of this still resonates with my clients and students. Perhaps it's indicative of the salience of human adaptability in organizations.

• terry1919@...07/18/07 Report as spam
  10

  I can think of 3 others

  the Nerd....the IT Version of the MBA
  
  the Shark an agressive version of the snake
  
  and the cow some one who allways follows the crowd

• qtip101a@...07/27/07 Report as spam
  11

  What a gas

  I love the humour and I love the insight.
  I can't find myself here.
  I am intelligent, good looking, great listener, idea chucker, come in on Saturday and wanna work on the borrrrring stuff kinda guy.
  
  Great post!

• LOUIETR08/30/07 Reported as spam
  12

  LOL...interesting reply!!

  You more less sum up all the features

• jansie@...08/01/07 Report as spam
  13

  oh hell

  now i'm gonna get into trouble for viewing your stupid article...

• dstrahm08/03/07 Report as spam
  14

  Bad guys?

  Is it just my paranoia kicking in? Why are most of the profiles non-gender specific, showing possible male and female attributes? However, the Class President profile (only one with all positive attributes) is female only.

• tmdonoesq10/25/07 Report as spam
  15

  RE: The MBA (Office Politicos: A Field Guide)

  Humorous, but useless. Thank God people are not so shallow, or obvious.

• elvamoser10/25/07 Report as spam
  16

  RE: The MBA (Office Politicos: A Field Guide)

  I enjoyed this piece when I read it in July. There's just enough truth in each of the profiles to make these caricatures real.
  
  Suggestion: When you guys rerun articles, why not identify them as such and include their last or original post date? If they've been updated, say so.
  
  I don't mind that you recycle articles and can think of many reasons why you should. But if we've already read them, you can save us 15 minutes.

• Mobeen Tejani10/25/07 Report as spam
  17

  RE: The MBA (Office Politicos: A Field Guide)

  how can I save this complete guide to share with others its really good stuff.
  
  Regards
  
  Mobeen Tejani

• shaung10/25/07 Report as spam
  18

  Politcal Copy and Paste

  You can copy and paste into a word document each slide to create one paper.
  Shaun

• selfishy_me@...12/07/07 Report as spam
  19

  Interesting...

  It's a nice set of general descriptions. If only it were that easy to identify people in real life... but still, it's not entirely useless.

• jrandom4212/19/07 Report as spam
  20

  Forgot one!

  You forgot one:
  The Technical Professional:
  
  Characteristics: Works hard behind the scenes keeping the company's IT infrastructure running and secure. Plans for business recovery in case of fire started by The Maverick. Respected by those who rely on technology to do their jobs. Does not work on personal technology of others on company time. Hates office politcs almost as much as he hates wearing a three piece suit.
  
  Plumage: Vaguely casual, sometimes outdoorsy. Militantly anti-suit and has quit other jobs over dress codes.
  
  Archetype: Cmdr. Montgomery Scott, Bill Gates, MacGyver
  
  Quote: "I'll get to it during my copious amount of free time."
  
  Pro: Will work hard at keeping things running properly. Helpful if not abused. Will save your butt with compliace regulations.
  
  Con: If he leaves, the whole IT infrastructure crashes: no email, the accounts payable and receivable are pilfered by hackers, and the Feds haul you away for violations of Sarbanes-Oxley.
  
  Warning: The company has entrusted their crown jewels to his guardianship.
  
  Care and feeding: Show some appreciation for the hard work he and his colleagues do for the company. Keep them clear of politics, because most regard that as a sign of a dysfunctional company and will bail en masse. Deal with them in facts, not wild suppositions. Listen and heed their instructions regarding email attachemnts, downloaded music and videos, and pirated software.

• mkyang@...12/25/07 Report as spam
  21

  RE: The MBA (Office Politicos: A Field Guide)

  what does 50-cents words stand for?

• dw40001/03/08 Report as spam
  22

  oh...really

  that's good

• perfect_stranger02/14/08 Report as spam
  23

  RE: The MBA (Office Politicos: A Field Guide)

  this is funny and interesting at the same time. though there are some officemates who don't fall under any of these types mentioned.

• balaakumar@...02/17/08 Report as spam
  24

  RE: The MBA (Office Politicos: A Field Guide)

  Great one to read but people are individual and differ based on situation and need arises - it is the moment action vs hidden agenda - either way just to read and dont practice to judge people as EVERY INDIVIDUAL DIFFER BASED ON SITUATION and Reason.
  
  Cheers
  bala