Games At Work: How to Recognize and Reduce Office Politics

by Mauricio Goldstein, Phil Read, Kevin Cashman (Foreword)

AS LONG AS PEOPLE HAVE WORKED together, they have engaged in political games. Motivated by short-term gains—promotions, funding for a project, budget increases, status with the boss—people misuse their time and energy. Today, when many organizations are fighting for their lives and scarce resources there is increased stress and anxiety, and employees are engaging in games more intensely than ever before. Organizational experts Mauricio Goldstein and Philip Read argue that office games—those manipulative behaviors that distract employees from achieving their mission—are both conscious and unconscious. They can and should be effectively minimized. In Games at Work, the authors offer tools to diagnose the most common games that people play and outline a three-step process to effectively deal with them. Some of the games they explore include: Filled with real-world, entertaining examples of games in action, Games at Work is an invaluable resource for managers and all professionals who want to substitute straight talk for games in their organizations and boost productivity, commitment, innovation, and—ultimately—the bottom line.

Genres: Business, Self Help, Psychology

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2009

Reviews

[J Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I once had a manager that kept telling me I had to learn to play the game. Every one on one we had, I was told I needed to play the game. I thought I was at work, and shouldn’t be wasting my time with games. Eventually, that manager just left the company. Actually, several great managers and people left the company. The people that remained were the ones playing the game. And that’s what this book is about. How damaging games are to a company. When employees focus their efforts on games rather than real work, actual productivity drops. I know, shocking, right? This easy read is a must for managers and employees who actually want to do something for a living. It provides an in depth outline of the games that people play, and offers solutions on how to keep the game out of the workplace. Having worked for a company whose culture had de-evolved into nothing more than a game, I looking down the checklist of games and recognizing all of them (save the budget ones, which I never was involved with… though I’m fairly sure they happened). Ending these games before they become a problem is the work of everyone at every level. This work is a start in the right direction. Of course, it also mentions that the best choice for someone who finds themselves in a situation where the game mentality cannot be redeemed is for that person to quit. Tough advice in this economy, I know. But I’ve seen enough good leaders make that choice.

[AH · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was searching for a source on dealing with backstabbing in the work place and I came across this book. All in all I found this book a good read but honestly I just expected way more.

[Movses · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read with interesting examples. Game playing is inherent to human nature, which may be exacerbated within stressful and bureaucratic organizations. Game playing is at its worst when employee roles and responsibilities are unclear, in which case games fill the vacuum created by the lack of clarity stemming from the immense vertical authoritarian management structures. Those who have worked in large organizations will already be familiar with most of the material covered in this book. After being engulfed in an organizational culture for a long time one may not even be aware or be able to recognize the games played. For many who have been in a troubled organization for a long time, game playing, or belonging to a group that plays games, may also satisfy their psychological needs of safety, esteem and self-actualization. The book suggests the ACE ( awareness, choice, execution ), as a tool to gain awareness, to make a choice not play games and to execute. However, making a choice to reduce game playing requires significant forbearance and emotional fortitude on the part of the senior management or the CEO, since the execution of it will involve open and uncomfortable dialog/confrontation, or even carry the risk of being ousted in extreme situations.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably better for rookies in the working world, or maybe as a summer reading for college management course. Good examples of the most common workplace games. Gives you an understanding to identify the game, and how to cope with or eliminate it. Unfortunately for me I have already played all the games before reading this book.

[Eduardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is really easy to read with several practical cases explained about the types of games you usually find inside companies.

Do not expect for deep scientific texts about why people act like they do, but, it does not impact in the pleasure to read if you do not have objections about a more pragmatic/straight to the point style.

Really nice one.

[Joslyn Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hot! I wish it was written like three jobs ago. Even if you don't think you play games at work, you do, and this book helps you recognize that and tells you what to do to be more productive and achieve your goals without the game play.

[Vidula · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting examples

[Khoa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just one of those book about culture. Full of theories, not a single grain of helpfulness.