Customer Reviews

Getting Even: The Truth About Workplace Revenge--And How to Stop It

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got this book hoping to gain insight into revenge in the workplace, and perhaps in personal affairs. It's become increasing clear that emotions and irrational thoughts are very important motivators of people's behaviors. Heretofore, most social science research and literature has focused on rational thought and logical motivations, almost as if irrational reactions to economic, political, and social situations don't exist. This book reflects the authors' methodical and scientific approach to the subject of "getting even" and provides greater insight into the subject than what a reader's intuition might lead him or her to conclude.

Based on the review thus far, you may conclude that the book is dry, academic reading. But, that isn't the case. The authors' research on revenge is fleshed out with stories that evoke the very human, and sometimes humorous, dimensions of getting even and vividly bring their subject matter to life. I personally felt that I could easily relate what Tripp and Bies wrote about to my job and to my personal life, especially because of how well they illustrate the things that motivate people to seek revenge.

The authors' assert that the subject of revenge in the workplace has historically been taboo. For what it's worth, I haven't seen other books on this subject. This leads me to believe that their work, and therefore this book, is groundbreaking and important. Yet, while the book is clearly written to meet the standards of social science publications, with proper citations, footnotes, and bibliography, the book is written in an easy to digest and approachable style (really, a lot better than my own). Therefore the book succeeds by bringing this subject under the scrutiny of the scientific method and then disseminating the information in a way that makes their findings more effectively received and subsequently applied in real world situations.

I would recommend this book to anyone but I'd love to assign it as required reading for any workplace manager or supervisor. I also sent my copy to my mother who is a Human Resources Manager.

We often think the disgruntled employee is unbalanced or crazy. From this book we understand that it's often an action (on inaction) by the organization or the boss that is the precursor to employees' acting out. If we take to heart the lessons taught here, organizations and managers will produce efficient and effective employees and organizations.

No matter where you work or what level you work at in an organization, sooner-or-later, you'll see it: two (or more) coworkers who hate each other to the extent that one is determined to get his/her "pound of flesh" from the other. It plays-out in their behaviors: everything from one giving the other the "cold shoulder"; to co-workers leaving names of their "enemies" off memos, not inviting them to important meetings, all the way to where one marks the person they're after down on performance evaluations, even to shouting matches where one or both are the one or seen "going ballistic," complete with venomous remarks and veins popping out of the side of their necks.

It is truly pathetic to watch self-serving professionals who are usually normal and well-adjusted, become focused on revenge to the extent that they destroy the morale and dynamics of an organization. For all involved, it's a roller-coaster with no end in sight. What's a manager to do?

Robert J. Bies, Professor of Management at Georgetown (Ph.D. from Stanford) and Thomas M. Tripp, Professor of Management at Washington State University (Ph.D. from Northwestern) are commended for taking on this difficult subject. As mentioned in the Preface, when they began their research in the mid-1990s, their colleagues thought they "were crazy." Indeed, their work is in a territory that was virtually unexplored by researchers -- yet, when one considers the costs in time, lost production, morale and personnel turnover - their work is now certain to become a standard source for managers seeking practical advice to prevent revenge before it is acted out.

Defining revenge as "an action in response to some perceived harm or wrongdoing by another party, which is intended to inflict damage, injury, discomfort or punishment on the party judged responsible," Bies and Tripp explore how workers' emotional responses serve as the driving force for workplace revenge. It is interesting to note their finding that most workplace revenge is not only not violent, but that what violence does occur in the workplace - e.g. "going postal" - is not typically committed by coworkers. For example, in 1993, of the 1,063 workplace homicides, only 59 involved coworkers.

Looking at fifteen years of research, data and social science literature, the authors come up with a number of interesting findings: First, revenge cannot be predicted by a workers personality, instead it's how those workers are treated and "the actions of their managers and coworkers" that drive their actions; Second, there are more "vigilantes-in-waiting" than you think in every organization, "normal well-meaning people" who if they "believe they can get away with revenge" will "take the law into their own hands and seek to get even"; Third, workers "think just like citizens and juries think," and want to make sure that "troublemakers get the outcomes they deserve," and if they don't, they intend to make sure they do, one way or the other; Fourth, avengers reason that their prey deserves revenge and that their actions, mean-spirited as they may be, are "appropriate and morally justified"; Fifth, while revenge is believed rational, it is acted out of anger - righteous anger - a heated anger, meaning that "revenge is rarely served cold"; Sixth, avengers often blame the wrong person or "blame the right person too harshly"; and, Seventh, avenging employees are often creative - their actions may range from simply fantasizing what they'd like to see happen, to bad-mouthing the person, to lodging a complaint, going to court, all the way to even forgiving and reconciling with that person.

In Chapter Two, the theory is put forth that "most employees who seek revenge are motivated out of a sense of injustice, where the offenses are seen as provocations, which leads to blaming, which leads to anger, and a desire for revenge, which often leads to acts of revenge." In Chapter Three, we read about typical workplace offenses that trip revenge, these include: goal obstruction, breaking the rules and social norms and damage to one's reputation. In Chapter Four we explore psychological and social factors that shape and /or skew the blame process. Chapter Five examines the role of "righteous anger" and how this anger shapes the acts of revenge. In Chapter Six, the authors describe personality differences and how individuals will act out their desire for revenge. Chapter Seven serves as a menu of practical advice to managers who must deal with angry, obsessive employees seeking to exact revenge on an "offender."

While I thought the various examples and cases presented as examples were helpful, I would have liked seeing these examples integrated more fully in the narrative discussions than set apart as they are in boxes. Also, more humor - such as the sections dealing with revenge in movie plots - would help the reader understand that while this is a serious and grim subject, such situations are not the "end of the world," and must be addressed in a timely, proactive manner. I was particularly interested to read about their theory of "sinister attribution errors" and actor-observer bias, as the examples I've seen during my own career of individuals seeking revenge were often those of individuals who were somewhat mentally unstable, and who - as the authors put it - overly "attributed sinister and malevolent motives to others' actions."

The concluding chapters offer much helpful advice to those thinking about going for revenge and/or managers with employees considering it. Consider this content well-worth the money spent for the book as a copy of this text in the hands of anyone out-to-get someone would surely give them pause as the essence of their findings comes down to a person making a choice as to whether to feed one's negative emotions or choosing that which is good, peaceful, joyful, kind, benevolent, and compassionate.

In this reviewer's own experience, the healthy path is that which follows the advice: "Don't get Mad and don't get even! Get ahead!" If you're good at what you do and you find yourself in an organization poisoned with individuals fighting and going tit-for-tat after each other, it's usually a flashing sign that it's time to move on to a happier place of employment elsewhere!

Highly recommended for academic and public library collections and individuals employed in management and/or the functional areas of human resources and customer service.

R. Neil Scott
Middle Tennessee State University

As a lawyer practicing for over over forty years in Southern California, I found this book to be not only informative, but almost a handbook for corporate clients and small businesses with larger numbers of employees. The book presents practical solutions to everyday problems in the workplace and helpful suggestions which lead to the avoidance of lawyers and litigation in employee related matters.

It is surprising that no one has written this book before given that 'getting even' happens every day in every organization at every level. Too much time has been spent blaming the one who committed the revenge act(s) and not enough time has been spent putting the spotlight on the ones causing the revenge - leaders and managers. Or even when some before have written about revenge they spent most all their effort documenting the extreme and dramatic approaches to revenge-evidenced by the fact that "going postal" is part of our everyday language and rubric. Revenge has taken on melodramatic, even theatrically distorted proportions. And now along have come the authors, Bies and Tripp to save the day.

Thankfully these two authors have spent 15 years documenting the motivations of people seeking revenge and have developed a thoughtful and provoking framework for predicting revenge. Importantly, they have also provided practical how to's for avoiding the likelihood of revenge.

Let's face it, when revenge happens it is most often because leadership has failed. They have violated the rules or frankly dismissed the rules; they have acted above the law, selfishly and without concern for the impact on the real workers in an organization. The book outlines a clear roadmap for leaders. I say Amen, finally, some acknowledgement that leadership isn't just about the bright side of things, it is confronting the dark side that a true leader is tested.

But the authors don't stop with just offering tantalizing stories, they used the stories to illuminate and illustrate their points. The reader, whether you are a front line employee or a senior manager leader, you are challenged to become a better person. Read it and send a copy (anonymously) to your boss, it will make a better world. Promise.

Bies and Tripp are highly distinguished academics, each is well-known in the field of Management. Yet, unlike most academics, they have written that rare book that has appeal to both practitioners and academics alike. They show that "revenge" is a much broader concept than is commonly thought and can infect an unwary organiztion with harmful consequences. Fortunately, they also provide prescriptions for preventing these harmful effects. The book is also very well-written and presents many colorful and poignant examples.

This book has a message that rings true. Revenge is about justice, and regular, non-violent people get even far more often than they admit or realize. But a manager doesn't have to sit back -- s/he can watch and listen in the office, and prevent revenge by creating a more just workplace. Let's hope some foreign policy experts will read this book too -- these concepts must apply in the world of international relations as well.

I've heard these authors will be writing about forgiveness next. I'll look forward to reading more of their serious but entertaining work.

Full disclosure: I was Tom Tripp's student back in the day at WSUV, and also his TA for a semester. Most importantly, he was one of those life-changing teachers that one never forgets, and I count him and his wife Jodi as friends.

Therefore, if I thought this book was sub-par in any way I would have skipped writing a review. But thankfully "Getting Even" is far from bogus. Indeed, it's certainly worth your time if you've been tempted to exact revenge on a conniving boss, or are a concerned manager hoping to prevent clashing employees from seeking an eye for an eye.

"Getting Even" acknowledges that revenge is ingrained within popular culture. Clint Eastwood has made a career out of vengeance movies, and what cube dweller hasn't gotten vicarious kicks out of watching their fictional counterparts on "Office Space" and "The Office" retaliate against bad management? If it feels so right, how can it be wrong?

Well, the authors believe that revenge causes far more harm than good, so they don't want life imitating art to devastating effect. Their main goals are to dissuade the potential revenge seeker from destructively acting out, and also to convince management that creating a peaceful work environment with revenge-free ways for employees to obtain justice is a critical priority.

With these twin purposes in mind, we are taken through a thoughtful examination of the triggers behind workplace revenge, righteous anger's motivating power, and various ways people get even. Compelling real-life anecdotes are sprinkled throughout the book to show the havoc revenge causes, along with counter-revenge examples that demonstrate positive alternatives.

However, most fascinating to me were the chapters dealing with the psychological aspects of revenge, preventing revenge, and moving beyond it. I became aware of some personal egocentric weaknesses, and also learned coping mechanisms to forsake the vengeance warpath in favor of getting ahead, forgiving, and even reconciling when possible.

"Getting Even" is a necessary read for anyone concerned about or dealing with revenge in the workplace, whether manager or employee. And given today's difficult economy and corporate cultures that view workers as expendable, it's particularly relevant. Highly recommended.

This book opens the kimono of organizations suffering from problems of lack of transparency and lack of formal justice systems. By revealing the true stories of real people inside organizations this book demystifies the experiences that employees (and managers) face and informs the reader that they are not alone in these thoughts. By avoiding the easy targets of workplace violence and getting at the non-obvious attributes of real productivity losses that occur all the time, this book reveals methods to managers to improve productivity and workplace happiness. I highly recommend this book.

So I picked up the book written by Robert Bies over the past week and had the opportunity to get through the first third of the book.

In summary, the book is a useful and insightful read for several reasons. First, it creates an outline of revenge in the workplace that all of us can readily relate. One aspect that I enjoy about the book thus far, is that it puts revenge and daily workplace challenges within a readily understandable conceptual framework that makes lots of sense and helps to put things in their proper context.

Second, the book is thoroughly researched to back up all that is stated and on top of that, it reads well. I have already captured immediate value in understanding how people get back at each other (including myself) and did not even realize that this type of research was being conducted.

I say, check it out because it is useful whether one works in the private sector or government.