Corporate America is a fairly non-intuitive place. It is not often true that hard or intelligent work is rewarded in and of itself. BUT, if you are intelligent and a hard worker and are confused as to why it's not being recognized, following these simple non-intuitive rules can get you far.
If anyone has ideas to add to the rules, post them in the comments. If it actually helps anyone, that would be amazing - in the meantime, I will just amuse myself =)
RULES of How to Be A Successful Corporate Drone (ethically)
========================================
Communication
- Truth vs Lie - If you haven't already run into the fact that there are more shades of truth than black and white, the corporate world is going to be very tough. This is a place where appearances, projections, hype, spin, etc. are often more important than truth. No, I don't think that's how it HAS to be, but it's the default state of public corporations - it takes a LOT of effort to break from that mold. Just as in the world at large, out and out lying is not a long term strategy, but spin definitely is. Presenting yourself, and group and organization in the best light possible is extremely important.
- When reporting news:
- Report good news (no matter how small) to lots of people, especially people above you (lots of them)
- Report bad news to as FEW as possible. Be sure not to hide it, that would look weak and definitely isn't an effective thing to do in any situation, let alone the corporate world. However, as much as possible, only send bad news to those who are motivated to fix it and/or those who have asked about it.
- If working overtime, be sure to mention it. It will get you instant recognition, and also make it less likely that you will be asked to work overtime the next week.
- When asking for something, some dramatization can go a long way.
- Ex: "My whole family will be on vacation for 2 weeks, and even though I have two weeks of vacation, I told them that I will only join them for 1 week - So that I can complete all the support work for project X and get it launched by the end of the year". Bosses may wear the guise of a corporate drone tough guys, but really, they are people too, and if you can shock them out of the corporate mode for a moment, they may even say things like, "I'll have Bob work on project X - you have worked hard on project Y for the last 8 months. Take some time and be with your family".
Improving and Getting Promoted
- When talking about ideas and accomplishments, ALWAYS phrase in terms of the audience you are talking to.
- For instance, let's say you know how to improve the performance of a system 4x, but your boss doesn't care about that particular system. Listen to what he does care about and find a way to tie the two together, then sell the accomplishment or idea based on what he is already interested in.
