New coworker tries to frame employee and get her fired for "sabotaging her work," leading to a confrontation with HR, where the truth is revealed: 'After interviews and digging, HR found Lisa was lying through her teeth'

Workplace politics are dangerous, and a game that many of us would sooner not partake in. The problem is that by choosing not to "play the game," you're actually still playing a role just so long as there is someone in the office still playing. It's easy to think that everyone will play by the rules, but so long as there's one person not playing above board, and those above them who are blissfully unaware, the entire game becomes rigged. 

Still, it's not only subversive plots that can tip the scales of the career ladder and succession. When we think of office politics, we often envision dramatic plots of betrayal and backstabbing in order to gain an upper hand, like two rats fighting to climb out of a bucket. But the reality is that it can be as simple as who is the favorite and gets more face time with the boss. It can be as simple as who tags along (or is invited) to after-work drinks more and works their way into an inner circle far above their station, netting them more influence than their experience and skillset properly deserves. Examples of this include finding that a junior staff member, whom the CEO has taken a liking to, perhaps because of their charisma, is offering advice that lacks the necessary experience to support it, which in turn directs the company's or department's course to folly.

This example is certainly on the more dramatic end of the spectrum, as this new coworker sought to frame a 5-year veteran of the company, presumably to get her out of the way and clear a path for her own career progression. It might sound outrageous to you if you've never witnessed something like this firsthand, but it really happens more often than you would think. People get their egos involved and decide that someone doesn't deserve higher standing than them in the pecking order ,and do mental gymnastics in order to justify dishonest behavior.