Have you ever encountered a pumper at work? Someone who seems overly inquisitive about matters political, but never seems to offer any information of value in return? Your answers never satisfy, and questions come one after the other: "What did you think of how they let Grant go? Who's next? Heard anything about the reorg?" It never ends.
Most of us consider pumpers to be pests. Some of them are just that, and nothing more. But sometimes, the matter is more serious. Pumpers can be politically dangerous.
Some pumpers are engaged in the dark side of workplace politics, either enthusiastically, or with naiveté or ignorance, or out of fear or extortion. When one of these pumpers targets you, the problem isn't finding the best response — it's finding the least bad response.
If you sense that you're being pumped, you might consider asking about it directly, if you feel safe enough to ask. Usually, though, a pumper's intentions are clear, and openness isn't really an option. What then?
Sophisticated pumpers first prime the pump. They offer information, usually unbidden, to gain trust. The less sophisticated offer no prepayment. They're easier to identify, but still potentially dangerous.
Stonewalling isn't an option. Stonewalling a pumper who's acting on behalf of someone with organizational power over you marks you as a noncooperator, or even part of the opposition. Offering something is better than offering nothing.
Cooperating enthusiastically is also unwise. If you provide useful information, you might be one of the only sources for it. If the pumper is concealing his or her client, which could indicate lack of trust, trusting the pumper is risky. If you're in, you want to be all the way in, and if you aren't trusted, you aren't in. That's why providing rare information could be risky, especially if the pumper's client considers what you provided to be harmful.
Most of us consider pumpers to
be little more than pests, but
pumpers can be politically dangerousA middle course is probably less risky. In utmost confidence, of course, offer information that many people have. That way it can't be traced to you as the sole or likely source. Ideally, you convey information that the pumper already has confirmed. Although it's of no value to the pumper, it establishes you as a reliable if naïve cooperator who believes that the information is valuable. True pumpers won't tell you that what you've told them is worthless, because they don't want to reveal that they already know it. They'll express gratitude, assuring you that your confidence will be respected. After a few incidents like this, the pumper will probably stop pumping you, because you will have demonstrated that you're fairly harmless, and not valuable as a resource.
Those who seek political information as part of a free and fair exchange are usually behaving ethically. But beware those who exploit power or ignorance to achieve that same end. Top
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Related articles
More articles on Workplace Politics:
Ten Tactics for Tough Times: II
- When you find yourself in a tough spot politically, what can you do? Most of us obsess about the situation
for a while, and then if we still have time to act, we do what seems best. Here's Part II of a set of
approaches that can organize your thinking and shorten the obsessing.
Lateral Micromanagement
- Lateral micromanagement is the unwelcome intrusion by one co-worker into the responsibilities of another.
Far more than run-of-the-mill bossiness, it's often a concerted attempt to gain organizational power
and rank, and it is toxic to teams.
Political Framing: Communications
- In organizational politics, one class of toxic tactics is framing — accusing a group or individual
by offering interpretations of their actions to knowingly and falsely make them seem responsible for
reprehensible or negligent acts. Here are some communications tactics framers use.
Embarrassment, Shame, and Guilt at Work: Creation
- Three feelings are often confused with each other: embarrassment, shame, and guilt. To understand how
to cope with these feelings, begin by understanding what different kinds of situations we use when we
create these feelings.
Implicit Interrogations
- Investigations at work can begin with implicit interrogations — implicit because they're unannounced
and unacknowledged. The goal is to determine what people did or knew without revealing that an investigation
is underway. When asked, those conducting these interrogations often deny they're doing it. What's the
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See also Workplace Politics for more related articles.
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Beware any resource that speaks of "winning" at workplace politics or "defeating" it. You can benefit or not, but there is no score-keeping, and it isn't a game.
- Wikipedia has a nice article with a list of additional resources
- Some public libraries offer collections. Here's an example from Saskatoon.
- Check my own links collection
- LinkedIn's Office Politics discussion group