REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID OFFICE POLITICS

8/7/2019 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID OFFICE POLITICS

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REASONS WHY YOU

SHOULD AVOIDOFFICE POLITICS


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10 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID

OFFICE POLITICS


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1. It promotes managerial incompetence.

Playing the politics game enables incompetent managers to advance theirown careers on the backs of subordinates who take on added burdens and

responsibilities as a means of gaining favor with those managers. Getting

close to a person in authority, regardless of that persons ability, is seen as

more politically advantageous than a candid assessment of his

performance.


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2. It fosters divisiveness in the workplace.

pick your friends wisely encourages an environmentthat pits camps of workers against each other. Far betteradvice is to be a true friend to everyone, regardless of hisposition on the political landscape. Cooperation and

collaboration will be far easier to achieve.


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3. It thwarts career advancement based

on merit.

If a less-qualified colleague gets a promotion that you knowyou should have gotten simply because he has betterconnections, does that mean you should have spent moretime sucking up to managers and less time enhancing yourqualifications? Not unless youre willing to perpetuate acorrupt working environment at the expense of expanding

your professional skills. Merit will always win in the long run.


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4. It tramples the ideal of doing for others

without expectation of payback.

With reciprocity in mind, remember, the giver has power overthe recipient. That is a good position to be in. If you work ata place in which people do things for each other in order towield you owe me power, you might want to think about

moving on.


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5. It sees selfishness as a necessary evil.

The nature of office politics is to take things liketrust and pervert [them] for a self-serving agenda.To make a statement like that on one hand, andproclaim on the other that office politics issomething you have no choice but to engage in,sends a message of hopeless acquiescence to the

destruction of what we see as noble in our lives.


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6. It creates an environment in which

backbiting is acceptable.

Speaking ill of others behind their backs is a destructiveforce that undermines the spirit of unity thats a prerequisitefor a healthy working environment. The pervasiveness ofoffice politics is a reflection of our acceptance of nationalpolitics, which has devolved into an orchestrated program of

belittling ones opponent.


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7. It prevents the achievement of the full

potential of teamwork.

Its difficult to imagine a career field or an industry that reliesmore on teamwork than IT. The success of any IT projectdepends completely on the integration of a multitude ofindividual working parts, which in turn completely depend onteamwork. Office politics is a force of disintegration that hasto be overcome if integration is to take place, and that can

only be accomplished through teamwork.


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8. It subverts the aim of consensus-

building.

Another advantage of building consensus is thatyou become a broker, not only of solutions and

relationships, but also of power. Office politics

has the deleterious effect of transforming a

consensus builder into a power broker.


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10. It stymies a service orientation.

Its taken IT decades to recognize the value of service-

oriented systems and organizations that are built aroundneeds that exist outside ITs own sphere of influence andinterest. Office politics restricts our vision, causing us tofocus on internal machinations rather than externalrequirements. It has no place whatsoever in a healthyworkplace especially a healthy IT workplace.

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REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID OFFICE POLITICS