Office Politicos: A Field Guide | BNET

BNET TalkbackShare your ideas and expertise on this topic

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

•  
  1

  Zymas

  07/12/07 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  2

  jdenton@...

  10/25/07 | Report as spam

  Gender

  Gordon Gecko isn't a positive archetype?

•  
  3

  mholzworth

  07/12/07 | Report as spam

  You Forgot a couple

  The Cry baby/Whiner
  
  The Work-a-holic

•  
  4

  Shamrocks

  07/12/07 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  5

  eekf

  07/12/07 | Report as spam

  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?

•  
  6

  Pete Malpass

  07/13/07 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  7

  tricia.harney@...

  07/21/07 | Report as spam

  Torbert's book, "Action Inquiry"

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

•  
  8

  jion

  08/06/07 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  9

  BTDA

  07/15/07 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  10

  terry1919@...

  07/18/07 | Report as spam

  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

•  
  11

  qtip101a@...

  07/27/07 | Report as spam

  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!

•  
  12

  LOUIETR

  08/30/07 | Reported as spam

  LOL...interesting reply!!

  You more less sum up all the features

•  
  13

  jansie@...

  08/01/07 | Report as spam

  oh hell

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

•  
  14

  dstrahm

  08/03/07 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  15

  tmdonoesq

  10/25/07 | Report as spam

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

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

•  
  16

  Sam Ross

  10/25/07 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  17

  Mobeen Tejani

  10/25/07 | Report as spam

  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

•  
  18

  shaung

  10/25/07 | Report as spam

  Politcal Copy and Paste

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

•  
  19

  selfishy_me@...

  12/07/07 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  20

  jrandom42

  12/19/07 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  21

  mkyang@...

  12/25/07 | Report as spam

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

  what does 50-cents words stand for?

•  
  22

  dw400

  01/03/08 | Report as spam

  oh...really

  that's good

•  
  23

  perfect_stranger

  02/14/08 | Report as spam

  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.

•  
  24

  balaakumar@...

  02/17/08 | Report as spam

  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

•  
  25

  dahzonline

  04/12/09 | Report as spam

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

  Well, let's see.. I think you missed some characters:
  
  - The Mother hen: He or she believes his/her department or protected ones are the best. Usually overreacts every time you point that ash in one of their proteges' clothes. Everything is bad while some of his/her chicks are complaining about useless petty details.
  
  - The xenophobe: He truly believes you don't have the right to be in the board because many reasons such as: you are new to the industry he has worked in for ages, you are so young to have all the years of experience he has, you haven't started from the lowest paid job in the company, etc. He will always look for and bring up your faults in order to support his beliefs.
  
  - The work-a-holic: He never takes a break because there is always something to plan, improve or complete within the company. He lives aside his laptop even at meetings he scheduled himself. He won't help you climb the organizational ladder unless he sees you are as devoted to job as he is.
  
  - The dreamer: He believes Heaven will increase the revenues and pay the vendors because we are a nice team. He likes to set very high goals regardless the real chances to reach them. He will keep dreaming until the last minute, be careful when trying to wake him up.
  
  - The shark (as terry1919 suggested): like a Snake but brainless and more aggressive. He likes to hit the table, shout at meetings and let his internal dogs out. Since he is very conscious of what he wants we will do whatever he needs to get it though with an elephant's gentleness; therefore he's one of the easiest types to identify.
  
  - The puppeteer (the hidden variant of the Class President): He knows which door to knock when there's a trouble. He wants to be behind the scenes and usually knows more than anyone else about the real internal politics within the company. He doesn't like people to pay much attention to him since he believes he's a kind of company's Knight Templar.
  
  I hope you can include these ones on your next update on this topic.
  
  All the best!