Posers part 3.

     The real military does not work like the StarShip Enterprise.  Far from it.  Or maybe it does at the upper levels.  It surely does not work as smoothly and effortlessly at the levels where I was.  You know; the levels where the work was done.  Office politics like you would find in the corporate world was epidemic.  I was one of those guys you have all met who would win all the battles but lose the war!  I found that to survive a career was actually rather remarkable.  The vast majority of the personnel who signed up with me resigned in disgust sometime before they were eligable for pension.  I suspect that is pretty much the way of the world!
       The biggest posers I ever met were pilot officers.  You see, there are two types of officer...general officers who went through the full 4 years of University at the big military colleges in Kingston and St. Jean, and specialized trades like
pilots who got bare minimum military training but became hot fighter and transport plane pilots.  I met a few pilot officers that deserved my respect.  Most were living in another world.  They would break the airplanes, I would fix them.  They had no idea how the airplane they were flying actually worked.  Oh, I suppose in all fairness, there were times when I was forced to fix a piece of equipment which I had no idea how it was supposed to work!  And imagine how difficult it is to actually trust the guy who gets to stay on the ground during the test flight!  We had multiple checks and balances to ensure our mistakes are caught before they became serious, he had no such luxury...if he made a mistake, it would become a smoking hole in the ground.  So the consequences of his screw ups are rather more serious than mine.  Usually.

So I discovered rules of behaviour.  I believe that these rules are applicable in every line of work!  Here is how to succeed in business.

First of all, you have to build kinks into the systems you are responsible for so that if you get laid off or fired, they have to bring you back in to fix it.  Very tricky to do that so that you don't get caught.  You normally do it in the interests of "efficiency", and if it makes some processes more efficient, then great.  Getting to be the only one with the owners manuals would be best, and being the only one who knows where they are all filed is what I am getting at.
     Second thing you must do is make yourself fireproof by being the person who organizes all the birthday parties, all the corporate pic-nics, and motivational time.  Do it a lot, so much so that they notice when you are not there!  And put all the information you amass in secure places so that a replacement or rival can't get it. (I used to talk to people in other companies to get them to sponsor our curling tournaments...those names and contact numbers were in my briefcase, and NEVER got into anybody else's hands)Knowledge of local club managers (and their favorite tipple) is priceless!
       Get lots of dirt on all the executives.  No, this isn't cheating....sometimes it is nothing more than knowing his favorite charity is a dog show, and using that as leverage.  If you can get real dirt, like real indescretions, make sure you have proof, and keep the proof in a safe place....your briefcase may not be safe enough!  Lockers and desks are just not good enough, and don't store it in a computer file at your place of work.  A notebook in your breast pocket is a good aide'de Memoire.  I got out of a couple of scrapes with my trusty little notebook.  Because I am a moral person, I never used blackmail unless I had a supervisor who was trying to use me as a rung on his personal ladder of success.
     Unions (if you are lucky enough to be in one) are more easily infiltrated than normal management, and can often be leveraged to get what you want or need.  Power politics is more easily played when you keep your hand to yourself, and play it sparingly.

There.  Now I expect you to be the CEO of your company in less than four years!  I'll come back and check.