DEAR CHICO AND DELAMAR...

I’m the new girl in the office and have been having a great time so far acclimatizing to the corporate environment. But while I’ve mostly been enjoying being part of the rat race, there are some things which I’m having a difficult time understanding.

For instance, my boss and his assistant have an “interesting” relationship. Face to face, the assistant is all smiles, but once our boss’ back is turned he doesn’t hesitate to bad mouth him to anyone who’ll care to listen. He’s called him stupid, incompetent, and so many other things.

More than that, he’s told us new hires how to get around requirements and how to do as little work as possible without getting reprimanded for it. Maybe I’m just being a stick in the mud, but that isn’t how I want to operate on my first job.

I’ve thought about telling the management this, but everybody else on the team seems to be okay with the boss’ assistant. They tell me that it happens in every office. Should I really just let this go and accept the reality that corporate is just like high school but with paychecks? Or should I tell on this assistant and risk rocking the boat? – Murphy

CHICO SAYS…

There is nothing that insulates you better from the consequences of your actions than the knowledge that you knowingly chose this path as an exercise of your own free will.

I always echo the idea that there are often no “wrong” or “right” choices, just choices. In your case, you can either be the quiet follower or the boat rocker. Either choice is a valid option, mainly because it will be you and nobody, nobody but choo, will feel the effects of your choice.

Who is to say that just going with the flow is an act of cowardice by not standing up to something you perceive as wrongdoing, and who is to say that speaking up is a foolhardy show of hollow bravado bred from an over-eager naivete?

Either way, it’s you will reap what you’ve sown, regardless of how sweet or bitter the harvest. So for me, do what you feel is right, not right as in what is generally accepted as morally right, but what for you is the right decision for you. If you feel staying low on the radar is better for you, then blend into the background. If you feel it is your duty to correct a wrong, then armor on. Because that is the only way you’ll find peace in case you don’t like how things turn out later.

Personally, I’d go for something in between. I can’t be a whistleblower, mainly because I don’t have the balls of steel for it. I think you need to be a certain type of personality to go against the grain and swim upstream of popular opinion. I’m very non-confrontational, but I fight in my own passive-aggressive way, just not in the head-on collision way.

I’d probably keep quiet, but at the same time, I would NOT be party to the stuff they would do that I feel is not right. For example, I won’t tell on the assistant, but I will not participate in any bashing of the boss. I will let them do their thing, as long as I do not participate, or as long as it does not entail me doing something I feel is wrong. I would do everything right on my end, and whatever they decide to do, is their business.

I know, there is the idea that “evil men get to do nasty stuff because good people do nothing” (or something like that), but I’d like to choose my battles. For my country, for the environment, for my family, for justice, for world peace, for animal rights, and especially for true love, I probably will. But for office politics? I’d save my energy for a cause that’s closer to my heart. In cases like these, I lean more towards, “if you can’t be part of the solution, don’t be part of the problem.”

DELAMAR SAYS…

Here the things you need to consider before making a decision on whether to tell or not tell the management: 1. Does this assistant have tenure in the company? If he or she does, then no matter what you do and no matter what you say, he/she stays and you will need to live with having to work with him/her after you have exposed her. Make sure you understand if you have the mettle for it. 2. Will anyone at the office trust you after you do this and can you handle it if they don’t? Whistleblowers in history usually suffer persecution and ostracism even if they are doing the right thing. People at the office especially the ones who do not really want to work will probably launch a campaign against you just because they now can’t get away with just trying to ‘look busy’. They will now have to actually do the work. Make sure you can handle being an outsider if you want to expose this wrongdoing. 3. Be prepared to not be believed but at the same time be prepared to be right and be believed by everybody but not have your boss come to your rescue and validate what you did. Weird right? But this can actually happen. Sometimes the boss will distance himself from you even if you helped him and the company because maybe he wants to be liked by and be popular with his employees.

The point of me saying all these things is to prepare you for the possible consequences. I think what you are about to do is the right thing to do but there are repercussions to it and you need to see that it won’t be as easy as saying this is wrong and the bad people get punished and everything falls into its proper place. Most of the time whistleblowers suffer persecution even if they are right to do what they have done. The sad truth is that most of the timetables are turned and the ones who are in the wrong even get angry at them.

The even sadder truth though is that sometimes you will even risk YOUR job even if you have done the boss and the company a whole lot of good. So, consider these points before you do what you think is the right thing to do. Being right it not enough in this situation. Having the guts to do the right thing and be prepared for the consequences socially in the office is a must.

(Chico and Delle welcome your letters. Write to: youth@mb.com.ph or fax through 527-7511. Listen to the Dynamic Duo Monday to Saturday, 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. over Monster Radio RX 93.1)