Games At Work: How to Recognize and Reduce Office Politics - Hardcover

Goldstein, Mauricio; Read, Phil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470262001 ISBN 13: 9780470262009

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2009

Synopsis

How managers can put the breaks on needless games before they spiral out of control This groundbreaking book gives managers the tools to "diagnose" the games that people play in an organization--Gotcha, Gossip, Blame, Pecking Order--and shows how to free people's energy for more productive purposes. Using a three-step process entitled ACE (Awakening, Choice, Execution) for reducing games, the authors also include specific examples from global companies that illustrate both the games and how to reduce them and offer a broader organizational perspective. Mauricio Goldstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil) is founder of Pulsus Consulting Group, a consulting company focused on organizational transformation. He works with leaders in Fortune 500 companies throughout Latin America, North America, Europe and Africa. Philip Read (Lausanne, Switzerland) has held senior positions in human resources at a number of Fortune 100 companies over 21 years in more than 60 countries. He has won a number of awards for his work including the PricewaterhouseCoopers "Most Innovative HR Department Award."

About this title

Review

"There's nothing funny about mind games in the workplace, say the authors of this sober-minded guide to understanding underhanded office maneuvers. Simply waking up to games people play and rejecting them is a big part of the battle for executives, say the authors."
--Andrea Sachs, TIME magazine, April 30, 2009

From the Back Cover

"A terrific read not only for senior leaders and executives but also for employees seeking growth in complex organizations. Goldstein and Read dissect the interpersonal dynamics that affect a company′s performance, provide a framework to understand the games that are commonly played in businesses around the world, and offer practical tools to correct these behaviors and improve the organization′s effectiveness."
Jacopo Bracco, executive vice president, DIRECTV Latin America

"Whether you are an employee, manager, or CEO, this book will help you uncover the games that are going on around you and in your organization and will arm you with strategies to combat the negative effects of these games."
Corey J. Seitz, vice president, global talent management, Johnson & Johnson

"This book is a good warning sign for organizational life. A road map of potholes and wrong turns. Written in a clear and down–to–earth way, its strength is its concreteness."
Peter Block, author, Community: The Structure of Belonging

"Play or don′t play, your choice. But if you need to manage and aspire to lead, you must read Goldstein and Read′s helpful treatment of the games going on all around you all the time. Prepare to be entertained and disconcerted in equal measure."
Seán Meehan, Martin Hilti Professor of Marketing and Change Management, IMD

"Goldstein and Read provide an accessible and penetrating discussion of the twenty–two most common games at work and their individual and organizational causes, business costs, and remedies. Every working person who has ever been a victim or perpetrator of political games will profit from reading Games at Work."
Harvey A. Hornstein, emeritus professor of psychology; former director of Columbia University Organizational Development Programs; and organizational consultant

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0470262001
• ISBN 13: 9780470262009
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256