AS LONG AS PEOPLE HAVE WORKED together, they have engaged in political games. Motivated by short-term gains promotions, funding for a project, budget increases, status with the boss people misuse their time and energy. Today, when many organizations are fighting for their lives and scarce resources there is increased stress and anxiety, and employees are engaging in games more intensely than ever before. Organizational experts Mauricio Goldstein and Philip Read argue that office games those manipulative behaviors that distract employees from achieving their mission are both conscious and unconscious. They can and should be effectively minimized. In Games at Work, the authors offer tools to diagnose the most common games that people play and outline a three-step process to effectively deal with them. Some of the games they explore include: GOTCHA: identifying and communicating others' mistakes in an effort to win points from higher-ups GOSSIP: engaging in the classic rumor mill to gain political advantage SANDBAGGING: purposely low-balling sales forecasts as a negotiating ploy GRAY ZONE: deliberately fostering ambiguity or lack of clarity about who should do what to avoid accountability Filled with real-world, entertaining examples of games in action, Games at Work is an invaluable resource for managers and all professionals who want to substitute straight talk for games in their organizations and boost productivity, commitment, innovation, and ultimately the bottom line.

AS LONG AS PEOPLE HAVE WORKED together, they have engaged in political games. Motivated by short-term gains--promotions, funding for a project, budget increases, status with the boss--people misuse their time and energy. Today, when many organizations are fighting for their lives and scarce resources there is increased stress and anxiety, and employees are engaging in games more intensely than ever before.Organizational experts Mauricio Goldstein and Philip Read argue that office games--those manipulative behaviors that distract employees from achieving their mission--are both conscious and unconscious. They can and should be effectively minimized. In Games at Work, the authors offer tools to diagnose the most common games that people play and outline a three-step process to effectively deal with them. Some of the games they explore include:* GOTCHA: identifying and communicating others' mistakes in an effort to win points from higher-ups* GOSSIP: engaging in the classic rumor mill to gain political advantage* SANDBAGGING: purposely low-balling sales forecasts as a negotiating ploy* GRAY ZONE: deliberately fostering ambiguity or lack of clarity about who should do what to avoid accountabilityFilled with real-world, entertaining examples of games in action, Games at Work is an invaluable resource for managers and all professionals who want to substitute straight talk for games in their organizations and boost productivity, commitment, innovation, and--ultimately--the bottom line.

Foreword ixKevin CashmanIntroduction 11 LET THE GAMES BEGINWhat Games Are and How They Are Played in Organizations 112 PLAYING TO LOSEThe Negative Impact of Games on Core Business Activities 463 FERTILE GROUNDWhy Games Are So Pervasive in Modern Corporations 654 EYES WIDE SHUTWhy People Don't Deal with Games at Work 835 AN EYE-OPENING EXPERIENCEAwakening to Games 956 COUNT ME OUTChoosing Not to Play 1087 GAME, INTERRUPTEDExecuting Your Choice 1258 INTERCONNECTIONSHow Games Are Linked In to an Ecology 1479 THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGEToward a Games-Conscious Model of Transformation 16410 GAMES AT THE TOPThe Impact of Playing in the Executive Suite 17911 A SUSTAINABLE GOALTransforming Organizations in Small but Significant Ways 198Appendix: List of Games 206References 224Acknowledgments 226About the Authors 228Index 230