How often do you allow impulsive feelings to override rational thoughts? When did you last experience a situation where you had intense emotional reactions or over-reactions? It’s easy to blame someone else, but honestly your impulsive feelings are your fault. Simply blame it on your amygdala. Your brain has two main functions, the neocortex for thinking, and the amygdala for feeling. To an extreme, whenever you react emotionally before thinking about the situation, research shows you probably experienced an amygdala or panic attack.
On an everyday level, the perception of being hurt or past hurts resurfacing can cause the best person to “fly off the handle” and react irrationally. You have no one to blame but yourself, because in the end you’ll pay the consequences for the negative outcome anyway. The person who sparked the reaction, could have habitually taunted you … doesn’t matter. The instigator gets off the hook, and you’ll go down in history as the bad person. Self-discipline can avoid negative outcomes by thinking first before acting out.
Dottie Wallace could have used this advice. As an employee at Valuable Temps in “Office Politics,” she suffered day in and day out from the deteriorating management style of the company’s owner, Irene Wallace. Misery loves company, and Dottie endured the working hardship with Mina Taylor, Jessie Smith, Serena Porter and Tia Wilson, who performed their tasks merely thankful for a way to pay the bills.
Although the company outsourced a record high number of temps, revenue was up by fifteen percent, and expenses had steadily decreased, Irene claimed all of the financial success for herself. She fired Serena Friday morning, and that evening called an after hours, off-the-clock staff meeting. Irene informed the staff of the “new rules of engagement.” She increased the forty hour week to forty five, while putting in place a moratorium of complimentary office incidentals, everything from coffee, condiments to cutlery. It almost came down to the staff bringing in their own toilet paper.
On Monday morning, Dottie needed a good lawyer because she acted on her emotions instead of thinking carefully about the effects. Not only did she face a possible court and jury, she also endangered Mina, Tia and Jessie for guilt from association as they tried to clean up Irene’s blood with a tainted alibi. Dottie could have blamed a possible panic attack, yet she dug a deeper debt for herself and her coworkers.
We soon learn all things happen for heavenly reasons, even while the situation looks bleak. It had been awhile since Dottie attended church, but a corpse and a $50,000 bribe convinced her that she still knew how to pray. She needed to ask for forgiveness, while embracing forgiveness from others. This time, Dottie meditated on the right response and leaned out on faith, in order save her coworkers lives. Whether the end resulted in a miracle or just a positive outcome … reading “Office Politics” reminds me of the Napoleon Hill quote, “Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterwards.”
Working in an office setting throughout her professional career inspired Wilma Brockington to write "Office Politics." She used her creative voice to turn gossip and rumors into mystery and romance. By setting a specifice schedule, Wilma wrote "Office Politics" in nine weeks.
Reviewed by Judine Slaughter
