Why do we make enemies so quickly?

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I can resonate with all the postings about office politics; its not what you do but what you say/who you grovel to etc.

However, I have found one way that seems - for me at least - to mitigate these issues enormously and has help me to really fit in as someone with AS: identifying and having an intelligent boss!

It sounds simple doesn't it. However, when I look back on my career its incredible how often this hasn't happened and how, in the three cases where I have worked successfully, how it has.

In two of the cases my managers were not intellectually qualified at all. However, there were very intelligent. In my current role my boss is an Oxford graduate though, like the other two, he is also very down to earth.

The reason why it works is because, I have found, they focus on output, not air. providing you get the work done they are happy. The way you do it doesn't bother them. I have also found that you can talk to them about peripheral issues (such as politics/difficult colleagues) and they will listen to and focus on facts. In addition, being intelligent usually means that they are tolerant.

Now whenever I go for a job I ask questions about the person I will work for and also what goes on higher up. I have foudn that the problems usually start at the top and work down.

Why do we make enemies so quickly? We're noticeably different.

I worked once as a proofreader for an insurance corp and there was this underwriter who kept confusing "statue" with "statute" over and over. Every time she did that, I had to send back a galley proof page to be corrected and that cost the company money. So I finally wrote her a note explaining that a statue is a piece of sculpture and a statute is a law. So who gets reprimanded? ME!! For embarrassing her. I was told by my boss never to do that again -- just shut up and make corrections. They would rather lose money fixing the same mistake over and over instead of teaching some vocabulary. Go figure.

Vulcane, I've learned that in society it's not what you did but who you did it to. Chances are for some reason this person had an influence on your boss. You can get away with murder and you can be blamed for the most innocent act. It all depends WHO you are dealing with. Who as in who's who.

Well that's upper management, not your managers. And it's not against you - everyone at your level is at their mercy. And what's worse, our country is headed that way too

The government's bringing in individual workplace agreements, which basically means if you want a payrise, you have to do it yourself, you can't call upon a union - no access to collective bargaining anymore. The awards system - which once dictated pay rises - is being dismantled in favour of a government-run fair pay commission. While some pay check amounts have increased, certain conditions - like holidays, penalty rates (rates for public holidays, overtime and the like) and paid leave - are being sacrificed, and these are things our forefathers fought for over a hundred years. And if you want to bargain them back, you can expect to lose your job.

But that's not all - if you're on an unemployment benefit, you have to take the first job you're offered or your benefit gets cut for 2 months. Which means that the employer can put you on a contract that has sh***y conditions with sh***y pay and you have to take it, you don't have a choice.

I could go on all day, but I think you have my point.

But it's not all bad news - the opposition party promises to tear these laws up and reinstate the awards system. They've been against them since day one and will fight to have them repealed. They are linked to the unions, so I think we can trust them.

Perhaps it's an AS thing, but I think we tend to call the shots as we see them and not 'play along' with the office jingle-jangle.

I think the 'bad management' theme does loom large. I am decompressing from a hi-tech fiasco involving an engineering director (with NO engineering credentials - here in a major hi-tech area!) who propagated and supported a project just for his own vanity. Basically, he had been involved in it for 5 years, it was not they type of solution the problem needed, but he wanted to save face and not admit to the executives that they should consider an alternate (in spite of tech staff telling him to leave it be and move on). The result is tension and career-limiting scenarios for those of us who had to work on it - for the director's VANITY!! !! ! Is putting up with this sort of thing considered the 'soft skills' so prized these days????! !! !

Why, oh why, can't people see things for what they are? Is that why we are hated?

I realise that I will likely be repeating a lot of what has already been said given the plentiful supply of replies in this thread, but this is simply me putting forth my experiences.
I have found that while qualifications and experience do matter, connections and the ability to kiss ass matter more.
I have plenty of experience and fairly good stats, but because I am not a good ass-kisser and dont know 'the right people', I am usually considered suitable for the job.
those jobs that I have been able to get have usually fired me within a few months after my novelty has worn off and they realise just what they have actually hired.
Idiots are usually much better at bull $hitting than smart people are, and much better at covering their own backsides and placing the blame elsewhere. this is why they tend to get further in life.
I know that my approach is somewhat cynical, that is a survival trait.
Do not ever let anyone tell you that jobs are skils and experience based, that is simply not true. otherwise there would be more skilled people happily employed, and less idiots ocuppying smart jobs.

I work at the Qubica-AMF warehouse/plant in richmond, va. Although you'd think social politics wouldn't really matter so much in this type of environment, believe me they do. My immediate supervisor (called a "team leader") is an incredibly rude and bossy woman that writes people up for being 1 minute late. There have been countless complaints against her by past employees, yet she seems untouchable. My next boss (her boss) rarely sees that side of her because she is always as nice as can be as soon as anyone above her is near. She prides herself on being fair and even but I have seen the way she plays favorites with certain employees. I remember when a girl that happens to be her church friend was sick one day and was told she could leave early if she needed to, but when i was sick a few weeks later (and i have to be really really sick, i.e. throwing up or w/diarrhea before i even think about trying to leave) and asked to leave early, she told me she would write me up if i left. then she said i should go to walmart on my break and buy some medicine and that i needed to just deal with it. It was ridiculous because we were in a slow period of production where we barely had enough work to stay busy. i told her i was too sick to be there and that i had no jobs to do. you'd think the company would want to save money by sending people home when it was slow, especially if they were sick and could potentially get others sick. but she still said she'd write me up. then there is my next boss (her boss) who is one of the laziest and incompetent idiots i've ever seen. His boss is actually kind of cool (i think an aspie, possibly). It was his boss who is always the one that notices when i have a good idea or when i have done a good job. Unfortunately his office was recently moved to the front of the building, so he is rarely out in the plant anymore to even notice me working my ass off while others are slacking around and chatting about football. Most of the team leaders are incompetent and only have their jobs because they've been there for years and are buddies with various supervisors and other higher-ups in the office. My 2 immediate supervisors are literally STUPID yet they treat me like a moron and think they are so much smarter than me...they didn't know what i was talking about when i asked about a pneumatic impact gun (air gun) and looked at me like an idiot. i've been there a year and i'm at the point where i want to cry every day.