The Schmuck in My Office

The Schmuck in my Office: How to deal effectively with difficult people at work by Jody J. Foster, MD, MBA   288 pages.

"Everyone has a “schmuck” in their office---a difficult, disruptive person who upsets the workplace, confuses coworkers, and causes concern. It’s hard to understand why schmucks act the way they do, but one thing is certain---they seem to come in all shapes and sizes. . . ."

I had seen a reference to this book in a recent article and was happy to find that it had some pretty insightful information.  While I wasn't familiar with all of the major work personalities covered in this book, I am familiar with some.  Dr. Jody Foster explains the spectrum of people that many find difficult to work with and looks at how dysfunctional interactions among coworkers can lead to workplace stress.  By helping people understand the people they feel are schmucks, Foster shows how to work with them and ultimately solve workplace problems.

While this book isn't for everyone, it did have some insightful information. It's helpful to understand why some people act as they do, because if you can understand them (or at least try to), you can figure out a better way to work with them.  And this can benefit everyone in an organization.