Firstly I sympathise with your friend. This is a rotten situation to allow yourself to be in... I know that sounds a little cruel but your friend has the abilit

Firstly I sympathise with your friend. This is a rotten situation to allow yourself to be in... I know that sounds a little cruel but your friend has the ability to exercise his agency. We are all captains of our destiny... which does mean that we have responsibility to avoid life's storms. Granted some storms are completely unavoidable but they are few and far between. My greater point here is that the lessons taught by Machiavelli in The Prince (and made more accessible in the 48 Laws of Power) ring true in any group dynamic of humans... especially in workplaces. I know many detest office politics but by not playing you are indeed under the illusion of having a choice not to play having already choosen to work for that company. Employees therefore have no choice but to play and by not doing so have choosen the default part of a 'sitting duck' pawn. I wish this wasn't reality but to be effective we cannot delude ourselves about human nature. The best way to be effective in a workplace is to accumulate political capital and strategically navigate office politics while also being effective at your job. This will also provide a margin of safety against office bullies and overly ambitious ladder climbers who prey on the weak and powerless. You might then think that the solution is to be a CEO but if you get there you will find that it's worse and that politics becomes absolutely vital for dealing with customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders.