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The Way of the Rat:  A survival guide to office politics
 
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The Way of the Rat: A survival guide to office politics (Paperback)

by Joep P.M. Schrijvers (Author)
2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Frequently Bought Together

The Way of the Rat:  A survival guide to office politics + 21 Dirty Tricks at Work: How to Win at Office Politics + 100+ Tactics for Office Politics (Barron's Business Success)
Price For All Three: £15.93

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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Cyan Books (13 Jul 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0954282922
  • ISBN-13: 978-0954282929
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 130,830 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #7 in  Books > Business, Finance & Law > Reference & Education > Etiquette
    #59 in  Books > Business, Finance & Law > Reference & Education > Business Studies
    #92 in  Books > Business, Finance & Law > Reference & Education > Ethics
  • See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

Management Today (June 2004)

"I strongly recommend this book... It's not only extremely perceptive of human behaviour at work, but also fun to read."


The Daily Telegraph (13 July 2004)

"Schrijvers book speaks frankly, and with an admirable lack of motivational nonsense, about the real dynamics of business success."

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The Way of the Rat:  A survival guide to office politics
43% buy the item featured on this page:
The Way of the Rat: A survival guide to office politics 2.0 out of 5 stars (2)
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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
2.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3.0 out of 5 stars Cyncial but true to life, 23 Oct 2009
By Peter E. Hall (Bath, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Whilst not the most fluent prose it contains some useful insights - not least that politcs is inevitable so you might as well enjoy it. The anecdotes add some colour and humour.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Boring and useless, 16 Sep 2009
I bought this book due to very high recommendations from a colleague who found this book changed their outlook re the workplace and helped them progress upwards - which I now find tragic. Here's why-
(1) The author makes several assumptions which in my experience are generally made by arrogant ambitious egomaniacs in modern workplaces. These include, amongst many others -
(a) That the true measures of your self worth are your place in the corporate hierarchy and the 'power' you wield over others. (This is laughable and tragic for people like the author - whose definition of job satisfaction will recursively include place in hierarchy and the power you wield.) Having fun involves wielding this power over others.
(b) That everyone around them is as ambitious, scheming, and sub-human as they themselves are (and those who aren't are clearly 'losers' who deserve to be climbed on)
(c) That "winning" is everything which is a zero-sum game (if you don't it to someone, they'll do it to you; and that there can be only one winner) - with arrogant ambitious people's corollary "...therefore whatever you do to others is justified"
(d) And that to any of the above assumptions, you must not ask the question "why" - because achievers don't and "what else is there anyway?"

(2) The writing is tedious and repetitive (required to turn something with such little substance into a book).

(3) While the imagery used - rats, sewers, drains etc. - is intended to shock you to focus, after a while it is boring and makes you pity someone whose first thought in the morning is to go to the sewer and fight for the next morsel!

To be fair, clearly this will resonate well in many modern high-paying workplaces, esp. investment banking, trading floors, management consulting, real estate agents and the like - and most of the successful ones found in such places already know the tricks to win in the sewer. In my experience, however, it is far more rewarding and fulfilling to think for yourself what you want from your worklife, and if that doesn't involve becoming the alpha-pest then don't bother learning how to become one!
The utility of this book - yes it has one - is to enlighten you as to the game some of the others might be playing (esp. those inevitable ones who'd have turned the space around themselves into a sewer) and, therefore, how not to be dragged into the filth. As a guideline to the workings of groups in modern workplaces, this can be a somewhat useful book - but then if you need a book of this sort, perhaps you don't need one!

Couldn't get through the entire book and had to junk it. Not worth the time.
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