The book was recommended by one of my 'rebellious' friends, I finally got hold of the book in the Odyssey amidst hundreds of corporate management literature books. Obviously Odyssey got it wrong, thinking that it's one of those corporate worshipping management or leadership materials narrating the greatness of our corporate leaders and their infallible vision and mission. The book was just doing the opposite, thrashing every corporate entity and idea- be it the CEO or just your manager, it's culture or the structure, be it Raju's Satyam or Ratan's Tata or NRN's Infosys. The book is penned by one 'little known' Vijay Nair and his profile reads he is an organizational coach. I was left wondering after all which organization would invite him to coach after this book
The author bulldozes 6 dogmas that every organization imbibes and brainwashes their employees to trap them effectively. These are the basic tenets which the employees are trained to believe without questioning.
Organizations are organic entities
Author: So what? You can still be evil
Organizations take care of your interests if you take care of theirs
Author: Here responsibilities are unconditional for you and selective for the organizations
Organizations are promoted and helmed by visionaries
Author: Only that those visions are sometime hampered by issues pertaining to profitability
Organizations want to empower you
Author: But the empowerment is much lower to your responsibilities (read 'work')
Organizations reward hard work and performance
Author: Yes, they reward someone else for your hard work and performance
Organizations provide safety and security for their employees
Author: But for the labor laws, organizations would even shy away from basic compensation
The funniest part is how the author categorizes different types of Bosses. He calls it BLFI (Boss Labeling and Fixing Instrument). It's a set of 25 objective type questions which the author asks you to respond at least 18. Based on your responses, he attempts to show you what kind of boss you are blessed with. Once you know who your boss is, he recommends strategies to tame your boss.
Author has 6 types of bosses. For each type he has coined a word that I never understood just by reading it, Probably you will, if you are a keen viewer of Discovery or Animal Planet channel.
Oily Oyster (Oo)
The boss who is pleasant and sweet as long as you limit yourself to what he required of you. The moment you try to push yourself to the next level, the boss starts to conspire against you. The boss will still act as if he has the same sympathy and empathy towards you, but will be trying the pull the carpet underneath.
Vicious Viper (Vv)
Vicious, vindictive and poisonous. If you ever rub the boss on the wrong side even inadvertently, you will get it back one day. You will have day-to-day problems working with this boss
Flattering Fraud (Ff)
Praise you all the time face-to-face, but will create a bad image of you in the organization 360 degree- to his boss, your peers and your team members
Crafty Conman (Cc)
Intelligent, fiercely competitive and extremely cunning. You will not have day-to-day problems working with the boss, but you are responsible for your own destiny and the boss will never help accomplishing your own goals. In fact, the boss will cunningly work against your interests
Burly Bastion (Bb)
Makes hefty promises every time, but never serious about implementing it. The boss will stand between you and your ambitions and you will realize only lately how cleverly you've been trapped. You cannot make the move outside and you cannot realize the goals inside too
Horny Harry (Hh)
Guessed it right? Yes the boss who tries to take sexual advantage over a sub-ordinate.
Are you expecting a type that characterizes the good boss? You are so naïve, says the author. There are no such creatures in the world. It was quite interesting to read the case studies (case stories?).
The book advises not only to tame the boss, but other entities like the chief of the organization, HR manager and likes. It tells you how to tame the organizational culture too
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