Surviving at the office is much tougher than surviving on a deserted island. The castaways on the CBS summer television hit Survivor provided transfixing entertainment. They also provided textbook lessons for all of us on what it takes to survive the politics and competition in the workplace.
Addictive
I admit it. I watched every episode of the thirteen-week series. I watched the first episode because the show had gotten so much publicity. I had not intended to watch the other episodes, as I watch very little television, but I got hooked. I found watching the inter-personal dynamics on the show was fascinating.
In unscripted television shows, as in real life, the winner is not always the person who is "best". Life on the island wasn't fair, but neither is life in the real world. We have all seen people get promoted over others who worked harder, were smarter, were nicer, etc. That happened on Pulau Tiga Island as well.
Did the "best" person win? No. Was I surprised by the winner? No. Did the person who played the game the best win? Yes. They always do.
What Happened?
Let's skip over the early episodes. Let's ignore the cabal that was trying to get rid of Rudy from the first week. Let's forget that on the very first show Susan told Richard "I'm a redneck. I'm not corporate America. And corporate America isn't going to win out here in the jungle."
The Pagong Tribe, at B.B.'s insistence, built a living structure and then settled in to enjoy their South Pacific adventure. They set about figuring out how to survive for six weeks against the jungle. This group of mostly self-proclaimed Gen-Xers always seemed to be having more fun than their opponents were.
The Tagi Tribe, on the other hand, became political almost immediately. Richard, the eventual winner, began plotting on the very first episode. He later said he had planned out his winning strategy even before arriving at the island. He expressed himself "amazed at how few other were planning."
These early episodes were fun to watch, but each week saw another castaway fall victim to an alliance, or the lack of one. Finally, the competition was down to the last four survivors, all members of the first alliance. That's when the real fun began.
It's the same in the office. When you were first hired as a trainee or on the factory floor there was no competition. There were enough resources (jobs) so everyone worked happily together. But then you found yourself competing for lead, supervisor, manager, general manager, vice president, and senior VP. With each step the competition became more intense, the politics more conniving, until there were just the four of you left competing for the job of President.
- Article by Wale Bello
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