Game of Thrones, the American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, based on George R. R. Martin’s fantasy novel series “A Song of Ice and Fire” has enthralled the Indian Audience like no other International TV Series before.
Game of Thrones, set in the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos interweaves many parallel stories tightly interconnected with each other. There are noble houses, warriors, politics, magic, war, honour, greed, lust and a constant ruthless game of survival. The complex characters and intricate plot are a treat to any art lover.
I was late to join the Game of Thrones Fan Bandwagon, but when I started it, there was no stopping. When I finally caught up with the rest of the fans around the world, I realized that Game of Thrones characters have startling resemblances with many people around us. Of course there is no game of thrones but our workplaces, are perfect arena for politics and war and an occasional touch of magic. There is a constant Game of Promotions, Game of Appraisals going on inside our workplaces.
Upon some careful observation and discussions (and I discussed with a lot of them), I concluded that every office has the following Game of Thrones Character:
Robert Baratheon
The high-on-power Managing Director: He used to be a good resource in his early days. He now, turns a deaf ear to his well-wishers and keeps himself surrounded with sycophants. His under-eye bags and constant state of recklessness confirm his alcoholism. A stupid mistake finally costs him his career.
Stannis Baratheon
The religious guy: the one who invests more time changing his Desktop wallpaper than doing actual work. He religiously looks for good omen before driving to his office every day. He consults the family priest more often than he should. He gets fired too in due course of time, because of his general lack of preparedness.
Eddard Stark
The righteous worker – Poor chap is easily the best resource in the company and does his work efficiently. He has a pathological hatred towards gossip mongers and yes-men. He doesn’t mind confronting the Senior Management if they happen to fall at the opposite end of his moral compass. His antics cost him a public humiliation followed by termination.
Joffrey Baratheon
Founder’s son – Knows nothing about work, coordination or management but sits on the top chair. He has a knack for chastening good honest resources. He is too bossy to work with. He can’t handle crisis situations. In case of a bad project delivery or a possible cancellation of project, he hides under the nearest rock.
Sansa Stark
Miss Comfortable Life – She doesn’t expect a lot from her career. She likes to be treated gently. She just wants to get a nice royal project and work on it till the end of time. But she ends up getting the most horrendous projects, each one worse than the previous.
Lord Varys
The Gossip Monger: Relatively in a senior position, He has little freshers all over the organization. He loves collecting little titbits of information from all over the company. He keeps the mails, chat logs, printouts of personal documents, even video proofs safely in his custody to use in an apt moment.
Arya Stark
The Child Prodigy: The fresher that walks into the office and in a week’s time becomes the next big thing. She is tough, she doesn’t take no for an answer, she can survive in any project and under any mentor. She always has a nice to-do-list to refer to. She knows the art of letting go of her identity in the quest of Perfection.
Theon Greyjoy
The Idiot – He has lived in the shadows of star performers all his life. He tries making up for his losses while the star performers are away. He ends up stuffing more in his mouth than he could chew. He ends up getting chastised by the management and even loses a part of his salary.
Cersei Lannister
The HR Head – Envies everyone. Makes uncomfortable rules for employees and compels them to follow them. Scans every new comer with eyes of suspicion and a possible threat to decorum of the organization.
Jorah the Andal
The nice guy – Has a major crush on the hottest babe in the organization. He does all her work, fills her water bottle, gets her coffee and chips. And then the girl falls for the cool dude who just joined the organization.
Ramsay Bolton
The Nightmare – Left your system open by mistake, he’ll type a resignation letter and send it to your boss. Someone punctured your car tyres, it was most probably him. He is the one who spits in your water bottle when you are not around. He is the sadist, who just loves to watch the whole company burn.
Tyrion Lannister
The Astute Manager – isn’t endowed with physical beauty but has a sharp brain and strong survival instincts. He is the go to man for any crisis situation. Bad Boss, take him along. Stupid Vendor, let him do the calling. Client with the fury of dragons, he can calm him down.
Jon Snow
The Unloved Talent – The quiet prodigy discarded by everyone. He, who normally sits in the corner. He who, eats his lunches alone. People take him for a sociopath. But he keeps doing his work quietly. He has a soft heart for other disowned ones like him. He trains them without charging a dime. He doesn’t consider anyone his competitor, more often than not he invites his competitors to share his bay and work on his projects.
Daenerys Targaryen
The founder Member who was dumped unceremoniously. She has founded another startup in a different part of the country. She has gathered the best resources with her superhuman skills and overtaken some of the best startups in other parts of the country. But she hasn’t forgotten her humiliation. She wants to acquire the company that rightfully belongs to her. With her, there are thousands of her staffs who believe she can.