Politica de birou

by Oliver James

În urma unei cercetări amănunţite şi a unor interviuri revelatoare, Oliver James dezvăluie latura spinoasă a vieţii moderne de birou. Dacă vă gândeaţi că sunteţi judecaţi pe merit, mai gândiţi-vă o dată. Capacitatea voastră de a face jocurile politice e ceea ce contează cu adevărat. Această cultură a dat naștere unui mediu ostil și dezumanizant.
Expunând tacticile alunecoase care conduc anumite persoane până în vârful piramidei, James divulgă strategiile și tehnicile care atrag după sine succesul în circumstanțe potrivnice. Cu mentalitatea potrivită, vă puteţi distanţa de acest mediu toxic, puteţi trece interviurile cu şarm şi eleganţă şi puteţi folosi politicile de birou în avantajul vostru.
Politică de birou vă va schimba definitiv perspectiva asupra vieţii la birou.
Oliver JAMES psiholog de renume mondial, lucrează din 1988 ca scriitor, jurnalist, prezentator TV şi producător de documentare pentru televiziune. Printre cărţile sale se numără Afluenza (Editura Vellant, 2009), Juvenile Violence in a Winner-Loser Culture, bestsellerul They F*** You Up şi Britain on the Couch, care s-a transformat într-o serie de documentare de succes pentru Channel 4.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Business, Politics, Self Help, Economics, Workplace

272 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Oliver James is a clinical psychologist, writer, broadcaster, and television documentary producer. He frequently broadcasts on radio and acts as a pundit on television.

He is the author of several books, including Affluenza, which examines the role that consumerist aspirations play in making us miserable.

In 1997 he presented The Chair for BBC 2, a series that put celebrities on the psychologist's couch, and in which Peter Mandelson famously shed a tear.

Oliver has produced and presented several other television series about the issues surrounding mental illness, and various psychological aspects of British society. He also presented a series for This Morning on child development and is a regular contributor to several broadsheet newspapers.

He is a trustee of the Alzheimer's charity, SPECAL and lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and two small children.

Reviews

[Loy Machedo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loy Machedo's Book Review - Office Politics by Oliver James

There are some books which I find easy to write reviews for. And then there are books like James Oliver's Office Politics where I have to keep thinking and wondering - while suffering a massive writer's block in the process.

Why?

The book by itself has content you would love to underlying and take notes. And then just as you get yourself immersed into it, you realize the author has started to coast along aimlessly with anecdotal boorishness that makes you wonder - is it okay for me to flip pages and just omit this nonsense?

If you ask me, if I were to segregate the useful from the useless - I think the book would come down to around 10% of its original size.

So here is my half-assed attempt at making this book sound as intelligent as possible.

The traits that make for a successful hustler are not always attractive, James says. In fact, there's a "Dark Triad" of character types disproportionately represented in office environments:
• Psychopaths, who have no conscience;
• Machiavels, to whom others are but pieces on a chessboard;
• Narcissists, bursting with malignant self-love.
James classifies people who are a mixture all three "triadic individuals".

With the help of some amusing and horrifying case studies adapted from his own experiences and some 50 interviews he conducted for the book, James devotes the first half of Office Politics to telling you how to recognize a bastard when you're sharing an office with one.

The second half is spent advising the reader how to be just enough of an bad guy to get on without, you know, actually being an Evil Person - so to speak: learn to read the lie of the land; suck up without looking sucky; boast without looking boastful; network and scratch backs; cultivate a persona but don't cause yourself to have a nervous breakdown by cultivating one wildly unlike your own, and so on.

I would agree with James's assessment of the typical IQ tests held by organizations - which I believe is a total waste of time and resources. I don't believe you can accurately gauge human characteristics through such tests. But then the question is - what can be used as a replacement?

The author also declares that the reason for such toxic behaviors is a result of improper upbringing during ones childhood. Is this true and can it be verified is the bigger question.

The others bits which I thought was a summary of these points.

4 Skills of Office Politics
1. Astuteness
2. Effectiveness
3. Networking
4. The Appearance of Sincerity

Important Traits of Office Politicians
1) Acting
2) Ingratiation
3) Chameleonic
4) Flattery
5) Favor-Rendering
6) Assertiveness
7) Self Promotion
8) Feedback Seeking
9) Reputation Building
10) Get Noticed
11) Conscientiousness (Let everyone know - Have a balance)
12) Honesty not Stupidity
13) Rationality
14) Blackmail versus Favor Rendering
15) Defamation
16) Deception

Tips to protect yourself from Office Politics
1) Live in the Present
2) Some have it, some don't
3) Insight
4) Reflection
5) Two Way Communication
6) Playfulness
7) Take Risks
8) Vivacity (High Spirited & Animated)
9) Authentic
10) Be Happy

So moment of truth:
If I were to look at this book very critically, I would say that this is The Bumper Book of Lying, Backstabbing and Dirty Tricks.
Is the book useful - yes.
But when you compare the amount of content put into this book versus what you get out in the end - it is hardly worth your time and effort.

Overall, a disappointment considering the amount of time invested to read it. That is why I would have to give it a disappointing 2 out of 10.

Loy Machedo
loymachedo dot com | loymachedo dot tv

[Fiona Robson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Success at work now depends less and less on how good you are at specific skills and more and more on office politics. Often thought of as a dirty word, office politics is in fact an inevitable part of working life and is a major contributor to a successful career.

With only 11 per cent of people now employed in making things, such as the manufacturing industry, the great majority of us work in jobs where relationships are crucial. Intelligence tests account for about one quarter of how well people do in their careers; office politics skills accounts for most of the rest. Including real-life stories, questionnaires and advice based on science, this book provides a fascinating insight into the world of office politics.”

This book was fascinating and refreshingly honest. Instead of giving the view point: “Aren’t people who play office politics horribly?” James takes the view point that it’s a fact of life – let’s dead with it! I did recognize most of the personality types – the Narcissist, the Machiavellian etc. and some of the tactics were useful, too.

I found this particularly useful, being involved in local politics, but interestingly, there is a special part of the book dedicated to the world of education, a place where I think office politics is particularly rife. A fascinating read.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Books like this always concern me. I can honestly say that I have never intentionally been political whilst at work. My focus was always trying to be the best teacher I could possibly be for my students,whom I was driven to make a difference for. I didn’t have time to think about what anyone else was doing. What I realise in retrospect is that in order to get ahead at work you have to sacrifice who you really are and pretend to like people and be friends with them. You only get ahead if you’re prosocial and everyone likes you. I realise now how often people had actually used me and understand why they had backstabbed me so much; I was a threat to them and their ambitions as I was bloody good at my job. Insecure people always project their emotions on to those more skilled than them. People befriended me, so I would help them, and they spread gossip about me to tarnish my reputation amongst the office; even going as far as speaking to the manager about me. My workplace across the years has had its fair share of triarchic people and over the years I have grown adept at trusting my instincts about them; avoid anyone who tries to make your life at work more difficult. Anyone who goes out of their way to sustain your attention is after far more from you than simply your friendship; especially when they’re after it from everyone. I’d like to think that in the end a true heart will win over politicians in the office and James surmises as much at the end where he explains that it’s exhausting living up to a pretence and you’re never really sure when it’s going to catch up to you. Be good at your job and be pleasant to people and you’ll not need office politics.

[Rhiannon George · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first half was very repetitive (I'm sure I read the same sentence in at least three different chapters)and the he second half offered precious little practical or usable advice. The book indulges in retelling the (admittedly interesting) stories of some atypical people whilst constantly reminding the reader that these are not normal situations they are likely to encounter. By focusing on the extremes it loses the ability to offer useful day to day advice and even manages to end with an appalling plug for the authors next book which it offers as the solution to "healthy office politics". Needless to say I won't be purchasing that book!

[Michael Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As ever Oliver James talks a lot of sense. His guide to office politics allows you to identify the triadic personalities who will go out of their easy to screw up your career. It also gives you the ammunition to use office politics to your own advantage even if you're not Machiavellian, narcissistic or psychopathic. It has certainly allowed me to identify and pigeonhole a number of colleagues over the years.

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a fantastic addition to the literary ocean which was surprisingly missing so far. With so many corporations around, how do we actually carry ourselves in order to survive on a day to day basis? Oliver has defined a successful corporate creature as a triad, a tripartite combination of a narcissistic, Machiavellian and Psychopath individual, features we all have to a certain degree. All of us working in the corporate environment that is. A successful career in any corporation requires not knowledge or skill, but acting skills, because most jobs are based in the service industry where attributes like perceptions and reputation matter more than what you actually know. So in short if you are in any service industry, its not what you know that matters rather its what they think you know or may know. The real world examples are very efficiently employed to emphasize any potential or existing employee to plot his way across the corporate maze.

A word of caution though, many readers not used to Oliver's sarcastic style may be put off in the beginning. I would implore them to continue and persevere till the end, as the last chapters are really good as they bring the whole arguments together. Trust me, there is a lot to take away from this wonderful book.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having written about money and families in the past he now turns his attentions to the office, and the inter-personal relationships within an office,

For the first part of the book he identifies the three types of particularly nasty individual that you will encounter, the psychopath, the Machiavelli and the narcissists. He details how they will behave, and how to deal with them. The next part of the book looks at case studies of individuals and ties it in with how you can improve the way that you deal with these type of people.

He conclude with measure that you can take to improve your own skills in dealing with the people and pressures of a modern business world.

All of the books that I have read by Oliver James have been really interesting, cover all the aspects of the subject that he is writing about, and offer solutions for you. And this is no different.

[Soheil · Rating 1 out of 5]

A complete waste of time! This book never reaches its promise of delivering a discipline by which you can navigate your way in the dirty world it describes.
Later on I learned that as long as you voice what you clearly believe to be true and make sure others understand that it is for their benefit as well, you will win. This book is plain garbage.

[Shru · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting topics covered but it was too repetitive and towards the end it got too preachy and rambly. Could have been an essay instead of a book.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this a confirmation of what I (and probably most people) had long suspected. Progression at work is less dependent on intelligence and diligence but more to do with fostering an impression or reputation through basically acting. The book is divided into two parts. The first deals with the types of people who you really need to avoid, what he calls 'triadic'. That is they exhibit a combination of the personality traits of the psychopath, the narcissist and the Machiavel. These are the ones that will happily trample on you to further themselves and not care one jot. And they can be pretty clever with it and difficult to spot, particularly if you are a non-Machieval sort yourself. The second part is a more general explanation of how office politics works in general and what you can do to make sure you are not a victim of it. A key part of this is being astute which appears to mean being able to read between the lines and determining what the intentions and motivations of others really are. You can be astute via two psychological processes one automatic and the other more deliberate. The first is fundamental and learned at an early age. The second is more complex and relies on you making a sequence of inferences to know what's what. Other skills include ingratiation, virtuosity and even 'dirty tricks'. The latter he gives as more a way of warning that it could happen to you rather than recommendation. These dirty tricks include blackmail, defamation, sabotage and deception. Much of the book explains the various methods of politicking via examples / case studies. In summary the book provides a good overview of office politics. It is not a simple thing to engage it as there are dangers with doing so, not least to your own mental health. Also, the author is quick to point out that there are many nuances to be aware of to be successful at it. This is not so much a 'how to' guide but more a 'how to survive and not be left behind' guide and it does this rather well.

[David Kirwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun read, but I didn't really learn any useful methods of combating/working with these type of characters, but that may not have been the intention of the books author anyway.

[Derek Baldwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very patchy, some very interesting insights swamped by far too many vague generalisations and some very weak case studies.

The utterly eccentric system of endnotes gives the game away. It makes the citations more or less useless. One of the endnotes is an essay in itself compete with references. It could simply have been an appendix or a short stand alone chapter, but it's as though he ran out of ideas and abandoned this halfway.

These and other inconsistencies, uneven tone and multiple pulled punches give the impression that the author wavered between writing an academically rigorous and well argued extended piece of research, and a popular "self help" volume. One way or another it seems quite clear that this was a rush job and ultimately botched. 2.5/5

[Rory Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth it.
Doesn't really furfil the title but gives you a list of what Office Politics is along with advice on how to participate negatively rather than positively.

[Andreea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me of how I do NOT want to be. My personal challenge is to continue believing that we can have a successful career without backstabbing others.

[Qiangyong · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began reading this book to explore the largely under-researched world of micropolitics in institutional settings, such as universities or the workplace. Whatever its limitations, the book performs a public service simply by bringing attention to this deeply important and grossly underexplored subject. In doing so, it opens up a much-needed conversation and offers valuable insights that can serve as a starting point for further reflection and research.

✦ Positive Contributions ✦

1. Awareness
The book draws attention to a deeply underdiscussed and important issue: the quiet damage caused by manipulative personalities via institutional politics. By bringing this topic into the open, the author performs a valuable service for those who have experienced its impact but lacked the language to describe it, the means to convey its urgency, or the framework to take meaningful action against it.

2. Identification
James’s analysis of “triadic” personalities — psychopathic, Machiavellian, and narcissistic — is a critical contribution. His acknowledgment that these individuals are difficult to detect is especially important—not only because they are adept at concealing their behavior, but because they often take it a step further, manipulating narratives so effectively that they appear as victims, while casting their actual victims as the aggressors. These types frequently manipulate public perception so convincingly that their targets are miscast as the problem. This inversion of reality is what allows their harm to remain largely invisible and unchallenged.

3. Humanization
Though such individuals often wield significant power and can appear intimidating, not least because they are willing to use a range of ruthless tactics that a decent person would shrink from considering, the book reminds us that they operate from a place of inner instability and fear of exposure. Recognizing this can shrink their perceived invincibility and empower those affected. For victims, it may offer marginal consolation to know that those who harm others often live without inner peace themselves, even if formal restorative justice is out of reach.

✦ Points of Disagreement ✦

While the book’s diagnoses are sharp, based on what I've read so far, I have to disagree with certain implied or proposed strategies for responding to toxic institutional politics. These are my reflections:

1. Ethical Maneuvering
It's reasonable to protect oneself through neutral strategies that do not compromise one’s integrity, i.e., avoiding dishonesty, or the subtle theft of someone’s dignity, peace of mind, credit, or opportunity. Strategizing does not have to mean stooping.

2. Avoiding Replication
We cannot afford to mirror the behaviors we criticize. Becoming dishonest or manipulative, even on a smaller scale, erodes the very values that distinguish us from those who abuse power. If we mimic these traits, the difference becomes one of degree, not kind.

3. The Third Way
Instead of conforming to toxic environments or normalizing ruthless, anti-social tactics, we must revisit older, timeless values: sincerity, accountability, honesty, and the awareness of even the smallest ethical breaches. While perfect morality is impossible, constantly striving to approximate it is not. Taking a paperclip that isn’t ours, withholding a deserved compliment, or failing to admit a mistake may seem trivial, but these micro-actions shape culture. Reform, not conform, should be the guiding principle.

I admit this might sound idealistic, and admittedly, it’s a non-specific framework — one that doesn’t provide exact strategies for navigating such environments. But letting go of these values is far more dangerous. Every moral compromise opens the door a little wider, making it easier to normalize the very behaviors we claim to resist. The small evils — the quiet betrayals, the subtle manipulations — often do more damage over time than grand transgressions. While the path forward may require further research and nuanced strategies, the guiding principle remains: reform, not conform.

So, after naming the beast and exposing it, our task is neither to be consumed by it nor to imitate it, but to find a third way — one that refuses victimhood, while also resisting the corruption of the individual soul, and by extension, the soul of the culture, in pursuit of success.

[Anastasija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but not great. It opened my eyes to a lot of the politics that happen that previously I didn’t see as politics. Definitely some good information in here.

I liked how in depth his examples where, I know some people didn’t enjoy that. It depends on the person I guess, personally I’m the type who’s “show don’t tell” to fully understand a concept, so the author giving solid examples of different office politics tactics definitely made the concepts a lot clearer. Specifically on how I could use them.

Some of the examples where very extreme, but the author does mention that. Additionally, what gave this book weight and trust that the author had a good idea of the topic came about at around 1/3 of the way through. While reading the book, I kept on thinking, “this guy is on the extreme side of politics. No company that I’ve ever worked for is this selfish and vicious, especially not with office politics.” Then, the author began to break down how different countries operate: Asian countries are communal orientated (meaning all for the team/good of the organisation), while western countries tend to be individualistic (personal gains and successes). He then said that there are two outliers: New Zealand, and Denmark. These two are a combination of communal and individualistic perspectives in a work environment. This really hit home, as I’m from New Zealand, and that’s exactly what my issue was at the start – it’s always a balancing act of prove yourself as an individual but never compromise a team/organisational success to come out on top. That’s a big no no. And some of the explanations he was giving I was thinking “Jeez that wouldn’t fly for a second. Where did this guy find these people?” Apparently it’s a cultural work difference.

Overall, definitely recommend. Good read, and I found out a decent amount of things about the way I operate in office politics, and how to do it better.

[Jon Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to help me improve the way I deal with middle management situations better.

The book had lots of information about different personality types and how to deal with them.
The sections I found the most useful were the ones that described the different ways people think and the different approaches you can take to deal with different personality types.

Office politics is the way the world works, so you need to learn how deal with it. I'm still not convinced there's a one-stop-shop for every situation that arises in work. Following the tips you could spend years building a network and sucking up to your manager, but what happens when that person's job swaps so quickly? Start from scratch? The book kind of assumes you have time to build relationships, where I work teams and staff change very frequently, so it's difficult to use long terms strategies to address short-term problems.

[Esi_70 · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's not the first time I'm utterly disappointed with OJ's books and I won't try any one else anymore after wasting my time with them so much.

I looked for help on his 'They fuck you up ' book first long time ago and I can only remember a sentence or two in the whole book that I found worth to know about.

The same has happened with other apparently interesting subject books he's written and finally this one promised lots of advice and facts on how to deal with office politics and has totally fail to do so.

Now that I know OJ has only six years of psychotherapy work experience I wonder how someone in that position claims to be an expert in the matter.

He spends the whole time in this book telling us about stories supposedly related to the topic. Don't waste your time. I'm afraid there's nothing positive to say about this and other books written by OJ. The irony is that he's a shrink and should be able to have at least some self awareness.

[Taylor Ball · Rating 2 out of 5]

A weird book, felt pseudo-scientific and had very obscure words that made it seem like the author was trying to sound smart. The first half started off as interesting. It discussed stories of bad office politics with pyschopaths, Machiavelli’s and narcissists. This part could be shortened. The second half of the book was meant to be about how to handle these scenarios and people (the reason why I started this book in the first place). Instead, the second half had the odd piece of advice but was more anecdotes. I wanted concrete advice. It was disappointing and I’m sure there are better books on the subject.

[Vasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The bad: nothing.

The good: an excellent book on dealing, as the title suggests, with the political bullshit in a company. Covers what the author calls the triadic traits (psychopath, Machiavellian and narcissistic), and how to deal with them and protect from them. Also covers things like to what extend should one be a chameleon or be honest. Very useful and elucidativo.

[Sally Tsang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially interesting, especially in its description of pathological office workers, but most of the book and its advice does boil down to common sense. Be authentic, but shrewd to an extent and try to read people and their motives so you don't fall prey to their tricks. Nothing particularly earth-shattering.

[Andrian Brinovanu · Rating 3 out of 5]

O carte de citit în momentele în care trebuie să-ți faci de muncă.

Este foarte nasol să ai abilități politice și să nu ai birou.

In rest este o carte care îți spune lucrurile pe care deja le-ai observat la colegii tăi pupincuriști, egoiști, triadici(manipulatori, machiavelici și narcisiști) și te îndeamnă să faci la fel dacă vrei să obții o carieră de succes.

[Devangi Godara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It honestly felt more like a frustrated vent than a toolkit. James spends more time psychoanalyzing personalities than offering practical advice. And his tone swings between self-important and oddly paranoid. It doesn’t help that he recycles examples and sometimes reads like he’s diagnosing your entire office without ever having met them.

[Ishan Panthi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well having come from the super well written 48 laws of power, this book is just a simple copy paste of some of the laws mentioned.

I hate that the author just gives a random story and expects us to "learn from it" without highlighting the reasonings or establishing basic guidelines for use.

[Alan Fricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful book. I need to work on my astuteness. Some frankly terrifying portraits of how people work.

[Khoa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another category!

[Abdulrazaq Balogun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every minute spent reading the book is worth it. Brilliantly written

[Laura-leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts well but then gets bogged down in anecdotes.

[ung_fla · Rating 2 out of 5]

a lot of repeating the same ideas without bringing any new concept

[KW · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting tidbits, but they were overshadowed by the sprinkles of outdated pseudo science and sexism.