Everything You Didn't Want To Know About Office Politics :(

Recently I watched a trailer for a film that caught my attention.

It's called the Corner Office:?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEbvLxU8vMI

John Hamm of Mad Men fame plays counter to his typecasting, as a schlubby 40-year-old office employee, who likes to spend his time staring off into space and pretending that he's in a 50's idealized working environment.

He's dancing with his imaginary assistant, being more productive, and most of all he isn't miserable every second of his existence.

This got me thinking, for all of our advances in the last 50 years, we have AI-powered algorithms that can expedite workflows, project management software to coordinate deadlines, and communications platforms like Slack to help you handle the little details without picking up the phone...

All of these things, and one of the most topical counterculture films of the year is about an incredibly handsome actor pretending to be happy while he stares off into space in a fantasy of his own choosing.

My only conclusion based on both the pop culture depictions and my own personal experiences is that the overabundance of office politics in North America is now to blame:

1. We utilize external agencies to process our workflows so we can get down to the very important work of micromanaging our co-worker's email correspondence routines.
2. We whisper in back rooms, channel rumors around those we should cherish, and most of all never ever acknowledge genuine accomplishment.
3. We perpetuate a race to the bottom where everyone is so continually anxious about their current circumstances that none of them feel the courage to perform genuine acts of productivity.
4. Deliverables, action items, and work products are things of the past. Coordinating tasks, internal communication, and shop talk have become the new norm for offices across North America.

We say that fit is everything, that feelings are facts, and that everyone has an equal perspective, except when it comes to seniority those we should look up to.

If I was John Hamm I might stare off into space too for 1, 2, maybe 4 hours a day just so I could pretend to be happy for one second of my time spent in the office.

The reality is, however, that it doesn't need to be this way:

1. We can fire the 3rd party agencies we hired to do our work for us.

2. We can encourage productivity and ingenuity from our subordinates

3. We don't need to back channel and whisper in dark rooms to drive up our employee's anxieties.

We can work again...

That's everything you didn't want to know about office politics.