Office Politics - The Opportunist and The Safety Player

Just recently, there’s a new ritual in my office, every 9.30 AM we have our regular morning meeting with the Bosses and the Big Bosses.

When I knew that my name is in the list, I felt that am in prison. Not because that I can’t have my morning chit-chat with my team or my colleague but because I only have limited time to finish my task, to discuss the idea with my team, to held my own meeting and most importantly am loosing my team to “think”.

At first, I felt a lil bit bored until the last three days, I found the new activity by watching and “reading” my colleague answer and gesture when our Big Boss of the Bosses threw his questions which gave me the lesson of “office politics”.

I’m not that person who loves “office politics”. For some reason I always have the beliefs that if we never stabs somebody in the back then no one will do that for me, so we can work in harmony as a team to achieve our own goals and everybody will do the same.

Naïve ? Certainly. Even though I have been stabbed by someone in the back, I never changed my “naïve” opinion.

I remember, one of my friends told me that am too naïve, that as a grown up person I have to understand that people will use every single way to climb up to the top, that we can’t make friends in the office. I was so mad at him for accused me as a naïve person and started from that day, I want to proof that his opinion was wrong.

But these last three days, I saw the drama of Office Politic, where finally I can spot my friends who are under the opportunist list.

Not within 24 hours, one of my friends has changed his opinion and suddenly became amnesia of what he had said before.

The others changed their opinion just because Ms. X, who has the power to the top, suddenly changed her opinion too.

All the opportunist follow where the wind blows, as long as Ms. X didn’t saw them as her enemy, then it must be safe for them to march behind Ms. X and become the Yes Man.

Besides the opportunist there’s a group consist of “Play Safe” people. Their comment is under the “abstain comment”. Just like the opportunist, they will state their final answer after the Big Boss of the Bosses stated his point of view.

I wish I can be like the opportunist or the play safe, I really wish. But every time I want to follow them, my inner voice advice me to become the countable person. So here I’m, speak the truth to the world and the big boss or the bosses may not like me because of my opinion, but at least I don’t have to put the mask.

I may be dumb for not using the opportunity to flowering myself to the Big Boss but at least I don’t have to make the up the story every time or have to loose my time just because the Boss love to get his team to gather together to praise the Lord.

I don’t want questioning the opportunist and play safe behavior. For me, the opportunist and the play safe is merely the character of that person. And for me, character is something that you can’t change. It’s there, they born and lives with that. The only person who can change it is themselves.

And today, during the meeting, when the Big Boss made his decision, the opportunist just sit there quietly without saying a word. Whilst Ms. X still fight for her opinion.
If you asked me which one that I like better, certainly I will say that I like to have a friend like Ms. X, even though Ms. X stated her opinion because of her hidden agenda but she’s never afraid to tell the people of her stand of point.

I know that by choosing to become the normal people, the one who can easily stated their opinion; I may not have a lot of friends at the office. But office is the place to work, isn’t it ? Not a place to find a friend.