Office Politics--Good for You?

I clicked on a link on Yahoo Finance last week to read an article about critics and how to know when a critic is worth listening to. I think that is an interesting topic--everyone can have something to say about what you do or how you live your life, but when should you listen and when should you ignore such a critic? I am not sure the author Penelope Trunk really answered that question, but raising the question was worthwhile.

After reading it, I scrolled down to the bottom, where people left comments on the article. I couldn't believe it--at the time there were about 250 comments, at least 99 percent of them very negative about her and her advice. Mostly they were saying that she was way off base on her advice and that no wonder, since she had never worked in an office.

Intrigued, I clicked on a link for another of her articles, one on Office Politics. titled "Avoid Office Politics at Your Peril." In the article she listed five reasons that office politics can help you meet your goals while adhering to your values:

1. Office politics reward people who are genuinely kind.
2. Office politics reward good time-managers.
3. Office politics is the answer to burnout.
4. Office politics is a road to self-knowledge.
5. Office politics is about honesty.

I won't go into details of each of the five points--you can read her article in her column, "Brazen Careerist" on Yahoo Finance.

But just take my word for it that people had another bad reaction to this column of hers too. Her main point is that being good at office politics is about being able to get along with anyone.

umm, Penelope, where did you learn your definition of office politics?

One commenter said that maybe she really means teamwork. Her five points seem to match the definition of teamwork rather than office politics. After all, said several commenters, office politics is really more about being competitive and doing someone in to get ahead yourself.

I have to agree with this person's comment. I have managed to pretty well avoid office politics in the various jobs I have had. I just try to do the best job I can. That doesn't mean that I can't laugh and have fun along the way, but I don't think it means that I should plot and try to do someone in. The people I have worked with in the past who were involved in office politics did not seem benign, in fact they were very toxic and would spread rumors and such about people. I agree with the commenters that Ms. Trunk needs to get a reality check. But it does make for some interesting reading.