The thing is, if you instead did that the management would be more likely to pick up on the distastefulness and pass you over. "Playing the game" appears to b

The thing is, if you instead did that the management would be more likely to pick up on the distastefulness and pass you over. "Playing the game" appears to be a rationalization of favoritism. The game is rigged in favor of some people for whom "playing the game" is much easier due to socioeconomic background / ethnicity etc (which are the actual explaining factors for material success).