Hey! That was my idea!... Corporate Games for a Rainy Day

>youshould be prepared to handle yourself
People occasionally come to me and ask aboutprofessionally.
situations with their jobs orwithin their companies. TheOnce you experience this situation the first time, your
primary question I hear is "What do I doif...?" Usually,boss will probably,privately, pat you on the back and
they got caught up in a turf war or game and have nogive some type of excuse as to why hehanded your
ideawhat to do next. Most of my answers come outidea off to another person. You will then be given a
sounding like a militarybattle plan. However, the type ofdifferentproject to block your time so that he will look
information I provide is a mutated formof an MBAas though he had "biggerplans for you." At this point,
course taught in many closed-door, corporateyou have five choices:
management classes.- quit,
This series of articles, called "Corporate Games for a- become a quiet worker-bee,
Rainy Day," is anidea that's been shoved in the corner- report it to his manager,
of my brain for quite a while. Theinformation consists- realize that you are now in a good brown-nosing
of knowledge from corporate classes as wellposition, or
aspractical experience in a couple of corporations for- you can reverse the game.
which I worked. I'm notgoing to pass ALL of my* Quitting
games on to you in these articles; however, IWhen you first encounter such a game, it can be quite
amassembling an e-book that will provide you with afrustrating. Nomatter how much you despise what has
complete list of games andhow to deal with each. I'mhappened, don't quit! This is a commongame and it is
sure that you'll either enjoy the reading orsend nastynot a personal attack. This is merely a situation that
notes because I'm giving away secrets to youryouallowed to become out of your control. Learn how
employees.this game works as youwill encounter it again in later
Whichever you choose, at least I know that you'vejob opportunities.
read it!* The Quiet Type
--- My Corporate America ---As for becoming a quiet worker in your position, it's too
I've worked in several HUGE corporations andlate. Your bossknows that you have good ideas in
start-ups as gopher, grunt,engineer, and manager. Theyour head and he will want more. If youbutton-up and
one thing I've found during this journey isthat---allnever devise ideas again, your chances of a raise
companies are the same. You laugh? It's true!willdiminish as will your longevity in that company. You
* Corporate Organization Simplifiedwill probably behustled into the worst possible projects
The company itself has one primary objective---tosimply because you won't playanymore.
make money. It doesn'tmatter how they go about* Report to His Boss
making money, whether it be a product or aThis approach is never good under these
service,the result is the same. Make a profit!circumstances. Again, the issue isnot a personal attack.
Within a company, departments are formed to supportIt is merely a chance your boss saw to gain a
the direction of theoverall organization. Within eachfewpoints with his boss. Let it ride and don't go above
department, you have individuals wholead, others whohis head for thissituation as you will only cause
follow, and a few who simply get in the way. Eachproblems for yourself. Besides, learn fromit and figure
type ofindividual is attracted to a group with whichout how you can gain a few points with your boss in
they feel comfortable or thatthey can use to getthissituation.
ahead. This is where the problem begins!* Brown-Nosing
Of course, it is good that people want to get ahead.As for the brown-nosing position, you are now in a
They want to provetheir worth, move into the nextgood position to makeyour way into the boss' good
higher group, and appear to be contributingto thegraces. Feed him some more good ideas, makehim
bottom line of the company. But, for one person to getlook good, go for the gusto. You now have a chance
ahead,someone else has to fall behind. It is in theto ride the wave inright behind your boss. However, do
attempt to get ahead thatpolitics rears its ugly headyou know which wave your boss isactually riding?
and the games and turf wars begin.One thing you have to realize is that your boss will not
* Politics Definedbe in that positionforever. He could get promoted or
In reality, politics is the self-governing of the free. It is alaid off and even quit, leaving you tofend for yourself. If
way thatpeople choose their own destiny and governyou decide to become a brown-noser, you will end
themselves to an ultimate pointor destination in their life.uplooking like an idea-less fool. Remember, you quietly
When applied to corporations, politicsrepresents an illicitgave all of yourideas to him in exchange for grace.
method of getting things done; however, it is* Reversing the Game
animportant element of corporate behavior that canI've always seen reversing the game as a way of
affect your career.gaining a little bit ofcontrol over this type of situation.
To properly navigate through the morass of politicalYou must always be professional, butprofessional
tangles within acorporation, you must have the politicalretaliation can be more ruthless than all out physical
know-how to open the doors to theelite groups of thebattle.
company. The problem is that the road to attainingYou need to plan any type of retaliation so that it does
suchknow-how is kept vague by many of those whonot come over asbeing personal and so that you
have successfully traveledthrough those doors.come out ahead.
Whether the company is large, medium, or small, thereThe best reversal for this game is to come up with
are the same peoplewith the same ideas and theyour next idea, plan itout, and generate a solid, detailed,
same approaches to the same situations.hardcopy report. Once it is complete,place the
Theadvantage is that, once you learn how the generalhardcopy of the plan in your desk drawer. Now,
games and turf battleswork, you can feel at homeprepare asecondary "verbal" presentation of your plan,
regardless of the company!but leave out a fewnon-trivial, yet not-so-obvious,
--- Have any good ideas lately? ---pieces of the puzzle. Present thisverbal-only plan to
One of the more frustrating and least noticeableyour boss.
games is the "Steal theWhen your boss holds his meeting and hands your
Idea and Wait Six Months" game. It is a game in whichidea off to one of yourpeers, have an impromptu
you present an ideathat is turned down by your boss.meeting with that peer. Tell her how lucky she isto
In about six months, your idea comes backto live in thework on the project and give her your original
body of another individual.hardcopy. Tell her thatyou were already considering a
* The Setup"very general rough" of the idea and would behappy to
You have developed an idea that can provide supportconsult if she needs any assistance.
for or creates asolution for some element of your--- What's next? ---
company. You've thought about it,researched it, andA key to this game is privacy. If your boss initially tells
decided that you should be proactive and approachyou that hewants to discuss your idea in private, then
yourboss with an idea.you should get the idea thatyou're in trouble.
You put together a presentation and setup a meetingI have no idea why six months is usually the time that
with your boss. Hetells you, however, that it will be apasses before theassault occurs, but that's the
private meeting. You go all out andtell him everything.standard turn around time for theresurrection of ideas.
Once you're finished with your end of the presentation,It appears that it has something to do with the
he sits quietly fora moment. You continue chattering tohopethat everyone involved will forget about the
fill in the blanks. Once he's hadtime to consider the idea,original idea and move on toother projects.
he essentially smashes it to pieces. You leavehisAlso, an important side to this game, and others, is that
office, dejected, and let the idea go.of the "quiettime" that ensues when you've finished
* The Assaultspeaking. This quiet time is createdto force you to
Six months later, you're sitting in a meeting held by yourcontinue your chattering to divulge other information
boss. He carrieson for a while and then presents thisthatyou would probably have never told your boss in
mutated version of your original idea.the first place. In thissituation, your best bet is to sit
At least it sounds like your idea, only it's less maturequietly as well.
than when youpresented it. It's like he changed it andReversing the game is a professional way of
left out some key elements thatyou had alreadymaintaining your dignity,keeping your place in the
presented. Suddenly, your boss hands the project tocompany as an intelligent individual, and allowingyour
one ofyour peers and tells her to make it work.boss to build up some of his own personal glory. One
Over the weeks or months that follow, the idea takesimportant thingto realize is that you want to oscillate
shape, with input andassistance from your boss. Hebetween brown-nosing and reversal.
provides the intricate details to your peerthat he hadIf you reverse too often, your boss will learn the
originally left out of "his" presentation. Eventually,pattern and he won'ttrust you. You have to wait for at
yourpeer presents your idea in a meeting in the sameleast two assaults before you reversethe first time so
way you presented it toyour boss in the first place.that he does learn to trust you. Then, brown-nose for
--- Solutions ---atime or two before you reverse the game again.
Of course, this is frustrating, yet it happens time andThe point is not to reverse too often so as not to ruin
time again to manypeople in corporations. The bestyour relationshipwith your boss. But, you don't want to
way to handle such a situation is toaccept it---the firstbe seen as an idea-less fool thatkisses up to the boss
time. But, when the second time comes around,to keep your job.