The cover says that this book will teach you “How to thrive in a world of lying, backstabbing and dirty tricks.”
I’m liking
I found the case studies quite interesting and they did show how people could use office politics to get ahead.
Things that made me go hmmmm
The book spent quite a while focusing on types of “toxic colleagues and professions.” I suspect (and hope!) that most people don’t have to deal with workmates who are quite as extreme as the ones mentioned in the book.
Alarm bells went off in my head when I read this comment, “Where I refer to a specific study or literature, I have provided an endnote as reference for that minority of readers who care to pursue the original research.” As a diligent reviewer reading the book on behalf of Kiwi Families, I then did look at the references at the end of the book, and my impression was that quite a few of them referred to the same articles, and to other books by the author. Hmmm.
I thought that the book’s message could have been summed up in a few short pages (it probably is worth doing a bit of acting at work and finding a job that you enjoy so that you don’t have to act too much, because putting on a false face all the time is stressful) and I didn’t find the author all that convincing. I even got the impression that he wasn’t that keen on the subject himself, and that he was much more enthusiastic when he got to the chapter where he wrote about the topic of his next book.
The style was also a bit strange at times, mixing pop psychology, academic language and a more conversational style. For example, “Ingratiation works… durr! It’s obvious: if you need something from someone and you can get them to like you by making them feel good, they are more likely to give you what you want. Not so durr is that you must read the other person right and execute your ingratiatory attempt well, easier said than done.”
The workplaces mentioned didn’t resemble many of the places I’ve worked – I’m not sure how many workplaces have promotions these days.
The conclusion
I wouldn’t recommend this book. I found it didn’t have a lot to say and I don’t think it would help many people in their working lives.
