Issue No 155 December 2005
Book Review
Was your boss raised by wolves? Surviving the organizational food chain by Gerald M. Groe
Most of us have complained, at one time or another, about bosses who snap and snarl and seem to enjoy seeing their subordinates run off with their metaphorical tails between their legs.
In this book, the author suggests that we should consider how much of that behaviour is, in reality, necessary to survive in our 'dog eat dog' corporate world, and how much we could change by reacting to it with more understanding of what drives it. As Groe says in his introduction: "The wolf metaphor seemed appropriate because the wolf must be both selfish and social in order to survive within an environment with extreme competition for food, territory, mates, and power."
Groe continues his wolf metaphor with chapter titles such as Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf, Taming the wolf, and Reading the alpha wolf, and by interspersing the text with boxes of so-called wolf wisdom. Key points are reinforced by short real-life cases, and Groe's retellings of Aesop's animal fables are inserted into most chapters to provide both entertainment and insight.
The extremely extended extension of the wolf metaphor can wear a bit thin, as can the relentless politically correct switching from 'he' to 'she' when referring to 'your' manager — so much so that the occasional use of 'their' actually comes as a breath of fresh air.
However, apart from these comparatively minor irritations, Groe does succeed in his stated intention to encourage you to "develop insight and practical tools" to manage your boss, so that they can more effectively manage you. In recognising territorial behaviours and "managing upward", the author contends that you can develop a mutually dependent win-win relationship, and prepare for the "challenges of today and your career of tomorrow", when you become the wolf yourself.
Julie Farquharson
Business and Computing Centre
