A disagreement

Dear Bob …

I just read your advice to Entering Politics, and I feel you’re doing a real disservice to business people who take your advice. What you advise this person to do is at the heart of many problems in the world, which is the continual avoidance of addressing problems or situations which you disagree with or feel are just plain wrong. What happened to voicing your opinions, and standing up for what you believe in regardless of the unfortunate consequences? I hope you don’t lead every aspect of your life this way, because you’re missing the point.

Your advice basically amounts to avoiding the backstabbing problem at all costs and just worrying about saving your own behind. I understand this is the safe choice and one that most people typically make, but maybe we need more people to stand up for what they believe rather than struggling to fit in all the time. Each person that makes the choices you describe only fosters the problem. I know you can’t or won’t recommend that someone address this problem in a more straightforward manner, or simply choose to leave and go to a company where this isn’t such a concern (yes, those companies do exist, although there are probably very few of them).

– Standing up and being counted

Dear Standing …

I guess you and I will have to disagree on this one. My perspective is that in all aspects of their lives, people need to choose their battles wisely – among other things, that means choosing battles you have a chance of winning. The alternative is being Don Quixote – noble, perhaps, but ineffective.

In a business culture in which backstabbing thrives, it’s a near certainty the CEO is the root cause, which means standing up for what you believe in regardless of the consequences means losing your reputation at least and your job probably while accomplishing exactly nothing.

In this situation, my correspondent had three choices: Get dirty, get dead, or be a noncombattant. I figure noncombattant is the superior option.

– Bob

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