Member-only story
Games People Play
Learn why people do the things they do, and how to deal with them
Have you ever had your boss pass their mistakes on to you?
Well, Bob the Boss does. At a critical meeting, Bob asks his team for suggestions on how to fix things. Alice shares an interesting idea, and Bob takes it to upper management. However, it ends up making things worse. Tough luck. Bob then redirects all the blowback to Alice. “Look what you made me do, Alice! Fix it, it’s on you now”.
Bob is playing a game of “Look What You Made Me Do”. He’s setting things up so the blame never lands on him. He’s vindicating himself.
If you can relate to this game, you’re not alone. There’s hundreds of games people play, and psychologists have spent years studying these games.
However, all is not lost. If you figure out the game and play the right moves, you can stop these games.
- You can stop your manager from shirking off responsibility.
- You can stop your spouse from playing status games.
- You can stop your friend from messing up their life and seeking sympathy again and again.
- You can stop strangers from playing games with you, too.
