DailyPost 189
SYCOPHANCY
Whether it is an art or a skill or a behavioural trait can be debated till cows come back home, there is no denying the fact that sycophancy in wide and varied forms, detectable or otherwise, seems to be the flavour of the day, across organisations of all types, with different levels of maturity and across sectors. Pleasing who matter is the name of the game. It can be termed as a polished version of servitude.
From personal inclination for one single gain, slowly, it becomes a habit, its success gets known & careful fence sitters who keep on watching the show also jump into the ring & it gains in momentum, till it becomes the culture of the organisation. The more closed the organisation, the chances of sycophancy is much more, compared to open and transparent organisations. Political organisations the world over allege sycophancy ruling the roost in the opposite camp.
This is what we generally call politically correct. Reasoning gives way to convenience, long term gains to daily comfort, feeling of importance to both and an everlasting taste of happiness and satisfaction in what we can call the SYCOPHANCY BUBBLE. All around, you see the same thing, you are fed with similar information & you also end up doing exactly the same thing. It’s a win situation for both the parties, only the organisation is the loser. The long term goals go for a six and the organisation gets into the vicious cycle of super mediocrity.
The practitioners feel that they are too smart to get noticed but in reality they become well known all over & are nicknamed as Chamchas in their area of circulation and for all their life. They become a butt of ridicule and lose credibility. But the low hanging fruits of the exercise, which they keep getting at regular intervals, makes them even more vigorous practitioners.
Sycophancy has the capability of creating an antithesis of any organisation.
SYCOPHANCY IS THE WORST TERMITE AN ORGANISATION CAN FALL PREY TO.
Sanjay Sahay