War Games

Pre-published in "Mindanao Daily Mirror" on November 11, 2011 (with friendly permission of my publisher Marietta F. Siongco)

I am talking about very special war games: wage war in the office of any other working place. I have written about it several times. Why again?

Again I observed a dramatic increase of these "war games" also in several Philippine companies and institutions. Let's keep in mind: We spend more time with colleagues than with our families, except we are working together with them in a family business, as I do. Anyway, we have a lot of occasions to commit and experience conflicts, disagreements, disputes, fights, rivalries, intrigues up to psychological terror. The war-like arguments at our working places claim more and more victims. People consider no sacrifice too great to act as tyrants, schemers and careerists while stopping at nothing.

The scape goats as well as the plotters can be found everywhere up to the executive floors, no matter if it's an ordinary company or church-based or government institutions.

Clever-dicks and hypocritical such as nice acting mask wearers, in all modesty, are the decline of every enterprise. Management consultants and doctors worldwide observe such phenomena in rapid rising. Where ever human beings have to cooperate and coordinate one can find different opinions. Sure, that's normal. But, the daily psycho stress makes body, mind and soul sick. It's many times NOT the hectic schedule in the office, no, it's the poisonous atmosphere caused by colleagues or the boss himself or herself. The principle of making the polluter pay is so simple: Well-considered good conduct by being kindly disposed towards someone but later a terrible back fighter, who enjoys any kind of gossip and harassment.

The worse working place conditions the more sick workers: a very simple explanation. But, progressive enterprises and institutions reorganize or remodel themselves. "Management by love" instead of oppression and modern slavery are the magic formulas. Quarrelsomeness - allowed or even supported by a management  forces only one thing: the economically bankruptcy and the bankruptcy of moral values. Intact human relations? How are they at your working place?