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Bon Journal

Click with the clique

Among the big egos, there's a belief that some people are more equal than others. They're the ones that get first cut of the pie. The first million bonuses go to them. Then logarithmically, it seemed, the rest get split up and passed down, until a few crumbs remain.

When you first join the company, it's obvious to them whether you are "clickable". Members of the clique are used to each others' ways. That's how they're able to quickly take new ideas to market. There's maximum efficiency and minimum friction. Therefore, to join the clique, you must not decrease the efficiency or increase the friction.

Great minds think alike. So if you think differently, then you're not a candidate for the clique.

But of course everyone wants to belong. The really desperate ones try to rub shoulders with members of the clique. It's much easier to do so if you're a guy. You can go to the pub after work.

If you're a woman, there are only two strategies. You can develop the Queen Bee syndrome, ousting other candidates but matching the testosterone level of the group. Or you can be an order taker, a nonthreatening member of the clique, barely visible but absolutely essential for the all-chiefs-and-no-indians clique.

16 December 2001 Sunday

part one
Dream job come true

part two
A generous beginning

part three
Witness to departures

part four
Make the deal, restructure later

part five
Mark your salary to the market

part six
First mover advantage

part seven
Believe in the dream

part eight
Intelligence over wisdom

part nine
Into the lioness' den

part ten
Options translated

part eleven
Forward learning curve

part twelve
Land of the big egos

part thirteen
Click with the clique

part fourteen
Endron