Discussing the Book of the Month

February 2005 - Survival of the Savvy

Power plays, turf battles, deceptions, and sabotages -- leave it to a couple of PhDs to bring the soap opera to the business book. Survival of the Savvy kicks off with a series of vignettes about average folks screwed at work. What follows is a methodical and sound study of politics in the workplace. Brandon and Seldman take on the role of corporate anthropologists, dissecting how office politics work and what you can do to master them ethically.

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Fast Take

Four quick lessons from Survival of the Savvy:

1. Get real. Office politics aren't going away. Learn how they work and identify your blind spots in order to use them to your advantage.
2. Style is everything. Are your "powers" in ideas or people skills? An idea person risks being underestimated and has insufficient networks; a people person is vulnerable to power trips and cronyism. Identify yourself and adapt.
3. Get the dirt on yourself. If mentors and 360-degree reviews aren't working, don't just eavesdrop. Watch for hints such as revealing jokes or thinly veiled annoyance, and take a moment to examine your assignments for any telling themes.
4. Mo' money, mo' problems. As a high-level exec, learn to expect deception from the ranks. Identify the political styles of your subordinates so you'll know where they're coming from.