Customer Reviews

21 Dirty Tricks at Work: How to Win at Office Politics

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must've read a stack of "office politics" books before I got to this one.

All the bits and pieces of useful information I managed to collect from the total of them were covered in the first chapter of this book.

This gets straight down to business. The dirty trick and how to counter it.

Thinking that the only thing you have to do at the office is good work is naïve. Every company has people who will stop at nothing to further their own agendas. Hiding your head in the sand (or behind your computer screen) only makes you an easy target. Instead, learn about the common dirty tricks played in offices and protect yourself from becoming a victim. To outmaneuver the manipulators, getAbstract recommends reading this clever, short introductory course on office politics. Organizational experts Mike Phipps and Colin Gautrey have done the research for you, identifying the most common and insidious dirty tricks, and outlining strategies for putting up your defenses or, when appropriate, confronting the attackers. Oftentimes, simply exposing the trick reduces its potency and sends the perpetrator scurrying back into the shadows.

If you only read one book on office politics, this has to be it! Unlike so many other titles this avoids generalization and provides clear guidance on what to do about specific tactics used by others to get ahead of you. Absolutely packed with great questions that you can use straight away.

This book is written as a fictional story of one man's experience navigating the political jungle in a cut-throat corporation. Each chapter tells a bit of the story, with an accompanying analysis that includes "Game Stats" (I found those totally useless), the "Antidote" and the "Vaccination". I found those last two somewhat helpful, since they give you "power questions" to ask the person who is playing politics and how to respond. However, the entire time I was reading the book, I kept envisioning an episode of "Ugly Betty," because the situations were so ridiculously exaggerated. In my experiences at corporations large and small, I've never witnessed the situations to the extent they describe, so it was hard for me to relate.

From the very first days of reading, this book seemed as though it was being written from the situations happening right before my eyes. Every daily subsequent reading seemed to have eerie parallels to the antics that I and others were dealing with in my work environment. This material has profoundly enlightened me to a way of thinking that I could never resolve in my own mind; simply because I don't think in the way of the manipulators. At every turn by the masters of deceit I had difficulty with how to understand what happened behind the scenes and deciding what my next move should be to turn things around.

I had often said with many turns of events "It's bigger than all of us" with no real resolve or appreciation for the gravity. But my eyes are definitely open now. If you struggle on a regular basis with understanding what goes on in peoples minds that drive the counter-productive company politics that perpetuates constant turmoil, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK! I feel like someone has finally thrown me a life raft; no exaggeration. I am now on a mission to get this information into as many worthy minds as possible. Look out all you Machiavellian-types, it's time the tables are turned on who you are and what you stand for! - Man on Fire, 2008

Have not finished the book as yet but so far, it gave insight into things I already know and have been coping with, sometimes not to well.

The tips/coping mechanism I have used so far and have worked to make a stressful situation a bit better.

It will not solve your problems but will help manage your anger a little better and with practice and get the work done.

I was disappointed in this book. I have very little time to read and this book has a lot of time wasting junk. Now if you are a fiction reader with time perhaps it's not bad but let me tell you what I like and don't like. Don't like: Book tells you about a character dealing w/ usually 3 types of politics then it goes to explain it more like in a self help format. These concepts aren't hard to understand and I certainly don't need to waste time reading a story about each item. Second, It scores each challenge on it's effect on the business, the culture, health/stress level etc. I DO NOT CARE. I bought the book to help understand political issues I was facing, not to get somebodies opinion on how many hit points this takes from me if I go through it. (Dungeons and Dragons dig :))
Like: Though I would not read it entirely again, it's easy to skip the junk I don't care about and get the meat and potatoes quickly. If I ever get in a political situation again, I will look at the one chapter that may help advise. The book also serves as a wake up call to anyone who goes to work to work among 'friends'. Wise up cupcake. You open yourself up and people will take advantage.

I just got this book, and I love it! Some books simply list dirty tricks as possible tools for personal advancement, but this one is different. In a case study, a bit extreme, yet very familiar, the authors present some dirty tactics that are fairly common in corporate environment. However, the authors do not stop at that: they list strategies to combat those tricks (I found some of them to be very good and will try them out), and they also list costs of those tricks to the victim, the company, and the perpetrator, whether he's caught or not. The book gave me new perspective on office politics, confidence that I can create more win/win situations, and forced me to review my daily routine to make sure that it's clean from tricks that, unfortunately, can become contageous. I plan to share this book with all of my coworkers who are willing to read it. My most sincere thanks to Mike Phipps and Colin Gautrey. I can't wait for your next book!