Been reading a book called Throwing the Elephant: Zen and the Art of Managing Up, by Stanley Bing. It's an entertaining read on how to deal with people in the managerial ranks, particularly your boss.
This is one cynical book (Bing's preceding tome was What Would Machiavelli Do?). Funny, yes, but definitely cynical. Yet, I've seen enough of these corporate wastes of space (why else do I link to Dilbert on the sidebar) to know that there's a germ of truth in what he describes. Take this sample "Buddha Bullet", for instance:
Labor for its own sake is noxious. The elephant has gotten to the point where it does not need to engage in it anymore, but can simply engender it to others. That you are willing and able to do actual work gives you incredible power over a creature that by no means wishes to return to doing any.
One of the things I like about working for smaller companies in the IT field is that there are fewer places for these idiots to hide. You can't escape them completely, but at least there are fewer of them. (The spectre of prima donna techies looms large, however, but that's another story.) I have to credit my last place of employ for being relatively psychosis-free.
Anyway, Throwing the Elephant is a good way to kill a few hours or more. It's also pretty funny from a Zen Buddhist perspective, but familiarity with Zen isn't a requirement for reading it.