Books: The Rules of Work - The Unspoken Truth About Getting Ahead in Business (Richard Templar)

I saw this book displayed on the "new non-fiction" table at Barnes and Noble today, and couldn't resist flipping through its pages. I admit that I did not read through the entire book, but I feel I read enough of it to give it my version of a literary review.

This book is composed of several "rules" of behavior for the workplace. The rules are described with short, simple paragraphs, and are organized under the following categories: Walk Your Talk, Know That You're Being Judged at All Times, Have a Plan, If You Can't Say Anything Nice--Shut Up, Look After Yourself, Blend In, Act One Step Ahead, Cultivate Diplomacy, Know the System--and Milk It, Handle the Opposition. Reading the categories alone is probably enough of a summary of Templar's rules - his straightforward writing style (characteristic of these business self-help books) offers little more elaboration on these overarching rules.

Having worked in the corporate world, I have to say that there is validity to these rules, despite the fact that I think they make you a total tool. There were a couple of ones I cringed at because I had very obviously failed to follow them. If I were to give myself a grade based on adherence to these rules, I'd probably give myself a C- my first year of working and a B by the time I quit my job. These are rules that young people with little work experience might find useful because office politics are not often taught or even articulated for that matter. Others I cringed at not because I felt I had inappropriately transgressed them, but because they were completely inane. One such rule went something along the lines of: "Only wear expensive things" because spending a lot of money on your looks will make you a better employee? I feel that rule along with some others had a misplaced emphasis.

These rules allow one to navigate the professional world on the surface level, and one is probably best to follow them like an actor follows a script. There is a mental detachment with which the most successful business people approach their work because there is a corporate mold they are trying to fill, and the rest of their personality that does not fit that mold has no place in the workplace. True, following these rules probably make you as exciting as one of those paper-cut-out-dolls, but, hey, it'll get you that promotion so you can go home and spend money on your wild self. So in summary, in order to make it in a professional environment, blend in yet be opportunistic. Don't offend anyone yet do not become to personal with anyone either. Such is the game called work.