PA has a good three-part series for gammas who find themselves in positions of authority for which they are ill-prepared:
A reader writes:
I’ve been a Gamma for most of my adult life, and now I am a boss. In my last job I had a real hard time keeping my female subordinates under control, even though I was starting to learn Game theory because the concepts were new to me. I’m still not very good at mastering Alpha behavior yet and I’m trying to implement it at a rate that I can maintain because it’s alien to me. Can you direct me to examples of Gamma behavior in bosses to help me identify what to avoid?
A quick explanation of jargon. “Gamma” refers to a man who is, for a variety of reasons, low on the socio-sexual scale as outlined on Vox Day’s “Alpha Game” page HERE. Additional discussion about gammas picks up at Alpha Game earlier this year in a continuing series by his guest-blogger Delta Man. If you are interested, look for posts tagged “gamma” or “delta.” “Alpha” refers to apex-male position on the socio-sexual hierarchy.
First, let’s take a step back for a moment. If you observe interpersonal dynamics across a variety of classes, professions, and social milieus, you will come across ordinary men, some of whom may be intelligent — sometimes brilliant — or otherwise interesting. Others may be unassuming and not good conversationalists or not come across as having ever been an honors student. Some will be nice, pleasant guys, others will be brusque or gruff. But those men will have one quality in common: while they are not exceptional as leaders, they are liked and respected by others. They are called deltas.
A delta can be an engineer who can lead a technical team. He can be a Marine in a “band of brothers” combat unit. He can be a middle manager who keeps a department running, a competent foreman or a mechanic, a successful musician, a waiter who does his job well. Most men who are trusted, whose judgment is respected by other men, and who are satisfied with their place in this world are deltas. The difference between deltas and the minority of men who are higher on Vox’s socio-sexual scale (alphas, sigmas, betas) is that deltas are not gifted with a dominant personality or extraordinary sexual charisma.
And now, on to gammas. The dividing line between a delta and a gamma is that other men respect deltas but not gammas. Likewise, women are comfortable around deltas (sometimes too comfortable) but are uneasy around gammas.
So what the hell is this gamma? My shorthand for them is “alpha ambition without the alpha goods.” They are restless, depressive, introspective, sarcastic, snarky, visibly bitter, passive-aggressive, cowardly in confrontation, and deluded about their rightful social status. You will find gammas among condescending nerds as well as in high places like law and politics. If you get involved in left wing/progressive activism — especially feminist politics — most men you’ll come across are going to be gammas.
Deltas tend to make ineffective bosses. Gammas tend to make horrific ones that take down entire departments with them. One of the most important things you can do, in any organization, is ensure that your organizational hierarchy is in harmony with the socio-sexual hierarchy. That doesn’t mean you won’t have problems, there are always problems, but things tend to work a lot better when everyone isn’t at everyone else’s throats.
If you find yourself in charge, your very first priority is to find Betas to act as your lieutenants. You will have to challenge them regularly to make their own decisions and to delegate, but they are valuable precisely because they have the ability to take charge of their own areas of responsibility without ever feeling the need to waste time on foolishly challenging you.
Your second priority should be to clear out and reassign those whose responsibilities are not in harmony with their sociosexual status. You’re going to have to fire your Gamma managers sooner or later, so get rid of them before they cause your best Deltas to quit. Return the Deltas who are in over their heads due to the Peter Principle to their previous positions where they were successful, just don’t reduce their pay or organizational status. Break the link between managerial responsibilities and organizational status; a star Delta programmer who is happy and successful working on his own is usually much more more important to the organization than the average Alpha executive.
