I work with a bunch of Neanderthals!

Well, so everyone thinks. I unearthed this book from my shelves – a rare one I’d had for years but not read — one Saturday when looking for an excuse to sit in a hammock for a few hours.  “Neanderthals at Work” – written in 1992.  It turns out it has some great insights for anyone living the corporate grind.  The basic premise is that there are three types of people in an office environment and the sooner you both figure this out and adjust your behavior to better get ahead, the better off you will be.  Written by Albert Bernstein and Sydney Craft Rozen, Steven Covey gives it a two thumbs up.  Every office has a mix of three types of people.  Only one of them is really positioned to move up in the world but all of them are equally important to the ongoing health of an organization.  Written for those who may be feeling frustrated by the “system” it allows you to self-diagnose your style and then gives some sound advise on how to adjust your behavior to better get what you want.  The three types of people and their antics are as follows:

• Competitors – the warriors of the office, to them business is a game.  They battle to get noticed, accumulate power and move up the food chain.  They excel at politics and are typically the ones running the show or poised to do so. They understand the rules of the game and know how to take advantage of office politics to get what they want.  If you aren’t a competitor, you may be completely blind to the fact that this sort of environment exists until now.
• Believers – yes I’m sorry to say these hard-working saps never get ahead but work hard because they believe in the cause and think naively that their efforts will magically lead to their inevitable promotion.  Sorry believers!  The competitors need you to stay just where you are so they can continue to get the lion’s share of the glory and keep you burning the midnight oil. If you suffer from burnout and can’t figure out why you never get any respect… watch out, you could just be a believer!   
• Rebels – these mavericks hate “the system” and consider themselves above politicing and people problems. They hide their insecurities with bravado and disdain but what is it really buying them?  Sure they are often the most creative of the bunch and when they have passion behind their purpose they will excel beyond belief. 

A quick read, you’ll come away with a greater understanding of the office politics, yourself and those around you.   Beyond that, you’ll gain some key clues on how to make the most of your strengths and how to better compete in any environment.  Understanding the Competitors’ “Ten Commandments Plus One”  will allow you to let go of the need for praise from supervisors, learn to live by your own decisions and how to read the writing “not on the wall.” It’s a paperback and available from Amazon.