Sycophanty

NeantHumain · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:49 am Post subject:

I work in an office, and my boss is obsessed with impression management. My world-view has always been shaped by the belief that what people do is what matters. For example, I couldn't care less about the personal appearance of the people who contribute to the Linux kernel or what their other hobbies are; all I know is they've done a good job. I may or may not personally like their company if I knew them, but I consider that to be separate and distinct from their work. Now when you have a job, when you're an employee, you sometimes have to "grin and bear it," but this is hardly sustainable since it goes strongly against my core values. Another thing is that teamwork is a code word that apparently means rope as many people into a project as possible for political gain (often a project could much more easily and quickly be done with just a couple of people involved instead of dragging in layers of management, analysts, tens of developers, much process and formality, etc.).

My boss has even advised me blatantly that a "pecking order" exists (including among people who are formally my peers and not parent nodes in the org chart), and that it's profitable to basically suck up to people (although of course he didn't say quite that). This of course goes directly against my nature and philosophy. This isn't quite particular to my boss; the company as a whole measures employee performance on not just work performance but also on things like your attitude and even appearance (dressing well, or professionally). Now I obviously don't intend to work there forever, and in fact right now I'd like to start working somewhere else possibly in about a year (I'm trying to get the basic amount of experience that makes it easier to find jobs in my industry); I'd also like to step up to a more technology-focused, less conservative company and actually eventually run my own business (but that's got some ways to go in terms of planning and skills).

Anyway my point is I am growing more and more disdainful of my boss, who just happens to be the focal point (for me) for a corporate attitude that grates against my own philosophy. Most other employees seem to be motivated in large part by fear (that they must conform or risk losing their job which entails losing ...). Perhaps I am being rash to not think of my good fortune in having a good job in this economy or that my predicament may soon be that of those you hear about who've fallen victim to this recession. I prefer to enjoy life, and work can be boring (lately it has been), so I try to make the best of it while I'm there. When the whim strikes me, I may just write an e-mail more amusingly. It still contains the needed information, yet it's entertaining. To me, whether it's considered "professional" or not is beside the point. It makes the day a little less dull! Very Happy

I'm worried that, if I get a job somewhere else, there will just be a different set of crud to deal with, and the importance of "sucking up" might still be there (since it seems to be an almost innate human social behavior); there might be worse things too. Really it amazes me that corporations can still turn a profit when there seems to be so much inefficiency (generated by mounds of process, layers of management and bureaucracy, and minuscule division of responsibility that makes it easy for people to pass the buck like a hot potato as if it's some secret that they are fallible and can make mistakes and to admit to an error would just be too devastating). That's another thing: Why are people at work afraid to admit they've made a mistake? Doesn't admitting it make it easier to fix it? Won't people eventually find out anyway? Also, the reliance on perception means those who are most socially skilled but not necessarily talented otherwise can be promoted to ever more important positions, which ensures that less-than-optimal decisions will be made.

I'm sure this is a familiar complaint for others with Asperger's syndrome. How do you deal with it?