Workplace Politics - Games

Games

See also: Mind games

One way of analysing office politics in more detail is to view it as a series of games. These games can be analysed and described in terms of the type of game and the payoff. Interpersonal games are games that are played between peers (for example the game of "No Bad News" where individuals suppress negative information, and the payoff is not risking upsetting someone); leadership games are played between supervisor and employee (for example the game of "Divide and Conquer" where the supervisor sets his employees against each other, with the payoff that none threatens his power base); and budget games are played with the resources of an organisation (for example the game of "Sandbagging" where individuals negotiate a low sales target, and the payoff is a bigger bonus).

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Famous quotes containing the word games:

    “Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination.”
    —William Burroughs (b. 1914)

    “Criticism occupies the lowest place in the literary hierarchy: as regards form, almost always; and as regards moral value, incontestably. It comes after rhyming games and acrostics, which at least require a certain inventiveness.”
    —Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880)

    “In the past, it seemed to make sense for a sportswriter on sabbatical from the playpen to attend the quadrennial hawgkilling when Presidential candidates are chosen, to observe and report upon politicians at play. After all, national conventions are games of a sort, and sports offers few spectacles richer in low comedy.”
    —Walter Wellesley (Red)