The political way
Sunday, September 21, 2008

Copied this from cowboycaleb, well said, if u do not know office politics, heres a start

How To Lose To Win & Other Tales of Suspense

One morning I received an early morning call from a senior manager. He sounded very distraught and asked if he could speak personally with me.

Some time last year, he screwed up big-time in the awarding of a multi-million dollar contract and got accused of corruption. Although these accusations were never proven, they were enough to taint his reputation. And to make matters worse, he made a few enemies in the fallout. On a personal note, I remain convinced he is innocent partly because no evidence was ever found but also because he’s a sweet familyman type middle-aged manager who looks like a great person to take a fall and the blame.

So I went over to his office, and he showed me a string of emails where once again he was being attacked and accused of matters pertaining to personal integrity. The worst part was, the person after him was a god. And not just any god, but the god that approves all things small and big.

He wanted to lodge an official complaint but I stopped him and asked him to stop thinking with his heart and use his head instead.

  1. Lodging a complain will do nothing but antagonize the god and make him attack you even more frequently. Why start a war you cannot win?
  2. Your reputation is tainted. Nobody will help openly you for fear of being infected. You’re on your own.
  3. Lodging a complaint is not going to make HR is not going to help you. The god outranks them. Hell, he controls them.
  4. Your boss is going to have to cross paths with this god in the future. You are not going to be his subordinate forever. Sticking his neck out for you, has more disadvantages to his career.

Therefore, lodging a complaint is not the solution although his heart was crying out for some damned justice. What he need to focus on, was how to end this once and for all.

My advice to him was to write a personal email to the god that goes like this.

Dear god,

The manner in which this entire affair has been handled has gone down the wrong path.

I’d like to offer my apologies for my words and actions.

I will fly to your country on Wednesday and discuss with you this matter from the beginning and hear your views on how it should be done. And in the future, all similar matters will immediately be sent to you for your decision.

regards,
middle-aged manager

When you write a letter of apology although you are not in the wrong, it shows that you’re the bigger man. If the apology is not accepted, then the god proves that he is a barbarian. But the god is not dumb, therefore the trap is sprung. He has to accept your apology and cannot continue his vendetta.

The moral of the story is don’t send email when you’re angry sometimes you need to lose to win. By taking a step back, sometimes you gain more ground than you win

posted by ikaira @ 12:16 AM,

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