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Reviews
The Gervais Principle: The Complete Series, with a Bonus Essay on Office Space by Venkatesh G. Rao
tomstbr's review
3.0
Another DNF. Got most of the way through it. A kind of convoluted look at how office politics plays out. Probably would have helped if I had watched The Office (American) to get a better grasp of the examples. Still, I took away a few fun little things, such as office hierarhcies and how the three groups interact (it's fun to spot these in your own office).
omikun's review
5.0
This web-essay series turned ebook is basically a breakdown of the corporate hierarchy according to a sociopath. As a (mostly) non-sociopath this book was very enlightening and opened my eyes to a world I had not been able to verbalize. There are quite a few interesting concepts, from unmediated reality to unreconstructed ideals, that I found difficult to grasp because there was never an explicit definition that had to be deduced by context.
Overall, I think I can break it down to this: Non sociopaths prefer to live in a meaningful world built on social values (ethics, morality, hierarchy, authority). Sociopaths are people who realizes these values are artificial and objectively meaningless. Thus, they operate outside societal norms while manipulating others who live within those norms. They can lie and cheat with impunity because nothing holds them back. They realize that the only thing of value is leverage, everything else is pretend money.
The book then goes on to extrapolate how this affects the rest of the organization, how sociopaths creates a deterministic world where they can claim the rewards for successes and redirects blame to underlings for failures, and how different kinds of redirections work. Except for a few places where some definition of terms would have been useful, I felt this book was really written, came at the subject from a very approachable vector, and was more insightful than the last several recent popular non-fiction books I read (that I shall not name).
Overall, I think I can break it down to this: Non sociopaths prefer to live in a meaningful world built on social values (ethics, morality, hierarchy, authority). Sociopaths are people who realizes these values are artificial and objectively meaningless. Thus, they operate outside societal norms while manipulating others who live within those norms. They can lie and cheat with impunity because nothing holds them back. They realize that the only thing of value is leverage, everything else is pretend money.
The book then goes on to extrapolate how this affects the rest of the organization, how sociopaths creates a deterministic world where they can claim the rewards for successes and redirects blame to underlings for failures, and how different kinds of redirections work. Except for a few places where some definition of terms would have been useful, I felt this book was really written, came at the subject from a very approachable vector, and was more insightful than the last several recent popular non-fiction books I read (that I shall not name).
niniane's review
2.0
Pretty interesting analysis of motivations within organizations. It mostly repackages concepts from other writers, and makes it more entertaining by using examples from "The Office".
It is self-important and claims that reading this book will permanently change your life forever.
The author claims to be a "sociopath" (using his own definition, which is about seeing through social constructs and not the clinical term). He claims to have stopped caring about any societal status or constructs. ... until he asks you to please subscribe to his newsletter and also maybe hire him to as a consultant for $1,000 to explain his philosophy. He basically is a wannabe influencer, whose claim to fame is that he's a "sociopath" that doesn't care about anyone or anything.
It is self-important and claims that reading this book will permanently change your life forever.
The author claims to be a "sociopath" (using his own definition, which is about seeing through social constructs and not the clinical term). He claims to have stopped caring about any societal status or constructs. ... until he asks you to please subscribe to his newsletter and also maybe hire him to as a consultant for $1,000 to explain his philosophy. He basically is a wannabe influencer, whose claim to fame is that he's a "sociopath" that doesn't care about anyone or anything.
merqri's review
5.0
Its a very interesting read. Its preferable if you are aware of the TV series The Office. The author takes help of the cast and incidents from time to time to explain his points. The book is short in length but the depth of content is significant. At times the book appears to border on cynical thoughts, but the principle makes sense at the end.
Its not a casual read. If you really want to dig deep, see at least a few seasons of The Office and then venture into the depths of human psyche, as the author sees it.
Its not a casual read. If you really want to dig deep, see at least a few seasons of The Office and then venture into the depths of human psyche, as the author sees it.
bookshelfthrowaway's review
5.0
Much more profound and insightful than I expected when I started reading
nithesh_123's review
5.0
This is a book that teaches you organisational literacy. I am not sure where I came across this idea in the first place. I read the blogpost on Gervais Principle on Ribbonfarm blog few months ago. It was an eyeopener. However, I had not read the remaining six parts of the series. I realised that the the author had published a book on the same topic.
It is very essential to understand organisational literacy if you are not an entrepreneur. That's because your entire life is going to be affected by the 'organisation' you work for. Your view of your own life or the group of people you hang out with can change once you understand this.
The hierarchy of sociopaths, clueless and losers is the core principle of the book. You might have read something similar if you have come across Dilbert Principle or Peter Principle. The author mentions these things, but does not agree with these frameworks completely.
It is very essential to understand organisational literacy if you are not an entrepreneur. That's because your entire life is going to be affected by the 'organisation' you work for. Your view of your own life or the group of people you hang out with can change once you understand this.
The hierarchy of sociopaths, clueless and losers is the core principle of the book. You might have read something similar if you have come across Dilbert Principle or Peter Principle. The author mentions these things, but does not agree with these frameworks completely.
library_bookwyrm's review
3.0
In this book, Venkatesh Rao introduces us to his very cynical analysis of organizational structure, using the tv show The Office as both model and example. While he focuses primarily on corporate organizational structure, the picture he presents has implications beyond the workplace, as it delves into the mindsets and psychology of the classes of workers involved.
Personally, I found his view interesting, and there is something right in it; but I am unconvinced that it is an entirely accurate portrayal of all organizations. He makes some assumptions that I don't think he can unilaterally make, and many of his conclusions are based on those assumptions. I did, however, think the book made a lot of sense in the context of The Office, although I'm not sure the show was actually conceived and built around these ideas - that might, however, lend more credence to his argument, however, since a satirical look at a thing often picks out truths that are missed when taking it "seriously".
A point he makes later in the book stands out as something he should have said earlier - namely, that different people can and do play each of these roles at different times. It isn't always clear which class a person belongs in, then, except in the context of a particular event or role.
Recommended for fans of The Office and Dilbert, or who want a darkly cynical way to approach corporate structure.
Personally, I found his view interesting, and there is something right in it; but I am unconvinced that it is an entirely accurate portrayal of all organizations. He makes some assumptions that I don't think he can unilaterally make, and many of his conclusions are based on those assumptions. I did, however, think the book made a lot of sense in the context of The Office, although I'm not sure the show was actually conceived and built around these ideas - that might, however, lend more credence to his argument, however, since a satirical look at a thing often picks out truths that are missed when taking it "seriously".
A point he makes later in the book stands out as something he should have said earlier - namely, that different people can and do play each of these roles at different times. It isn't always clear which class a person belongs in, then, except in the context of a particular event or role.
Recommended for fans of The Office and Dilbert, or who want a darkly cynical way to approach corporate structure.
gd779's review
3.5
This was my second reading. As I recall, after my first reading I would have given this five stars, as the ideas were sufficiently novel, insightful, and useful to be exciting. But on a re-read, it becomes clear how much is shoehorned in (or omitted) to make the points. It’s all terribly clever, and still very useful in some circumstances, but it’s more truthy than truthful.
nickdouglas's review
5.0
While Rao turns fiction into theory so he can apply it to real organizations, I use this book as a model for more accurate, interesting fiction. Particularly fiction about power struggles and comedy of manners.