OK to beat your boss (or a higher-up) at a game?

[mjr]

If this is supposed to go in "life advice", I apologize. Right now I'm just using it as a "hypothetical".

Ok, here's the scoop.

Apparently, the CIO at the company I work for enjoys bowling. Now, I don't know how good of a bowler he is, but when I bowled more often, I carried what I considered a pretty decent average (in the upper 190's to low 200's).

I've been planning on getting some new bowling equipment that can hopefully help me bump my average up to the 240-260 range (one of the things I'd love to do one day is bowl a perfect game, a 300). I don't know if our CIO is that good, or not.

So the question remains: If we were to bowl as a group outing, and I was to basically out-bowl him, is that a faux pas? Or do I "let" him win?

I don't think I would be directly competing with him, but I do know if I had equipment that is an improvement over what I have now, I could probably out-bowl almost everyone on my floor (I think).

[Aethian]

Depends on if he is a sore loser or a horrible winner. If he is then your screwed either way. If he's a good sport then while your playing you can talk about how nice it is to get back into the groove of playing.

[Sheldonrs]

Play your best. Either way, you'll learn what kind of person your boss is.
Who knows, he might prefer the competition.

[AnaKhouri]

Usually I would say, go for it. But if he's really competitive it might cause problems.

My husband's boss is an amateur bodybuilder. One guy applied to be a postdoc in his lab who was also an amateur bodybuilder (he's insane too, my husband showed me a video of him lifting 700 pounds). He and the boss decided to have a friendly competition.

They are both waaaaay too competitive though, so the applicant beat the boss and then proceeded to crow about it on social media and in the lab.

He did not get the position.

So, in a perfect world, everyone would be OK with competing and possibly losing and be graceful about it. But people aren't perfect so you really have to consider the personality of the boss in question.

[Jester]

It all depends on your boss.

In my case, the current GM of my bar is someone I regularly tell to go fuck himself, to his face. Since he has a sense of humor, and knows I am joking, nothing comes of it. There have been other people I've worked for in my life, though, who would view such comments, even in private, even in an obviously joking way, as completely unacceptable.

Now, when it comes to competitive activities among coworkers, I am glad I work in a bar, where most of us are competitive, and I can't picture anyone intentionally losing to a manager or higher up, as is apparently not uncommon practice in the corporate world.

[Mytical]

My advice. Play your best. If you lose on purpose, he may know and think less of you. If you win and he has issue with it, at least you know the next time. You can always pass it off as a 'lucky night'. YMMV.

[Crossbow]

I routinely crush my boss at various boardgames, but then she returns the favor at others (Both she and her mom are members of our boardgaming group). It all depends on the person.

[gremcint]

Usually I would say, go for it. But if he's really competitive it might cause problems.

My husband's boss is an amateur bodybuilder. One guy applied to be a postdoc in his lab who was also an amateur bodybuilder (he's insane too, my husband showed me a video of him lifting 700 pounds). He and the boss decided to have a friendly competition.

They are both waaaaay too competitive though, so the applicant beat the boss and then proceeded to crow about it on social media and in the lab.

He did not get the position.

So, in a perfect world, everyone would be OK with competing and possibly losing and be graceful about it. But people aren't perfect so you really have to consider the personality of the boss in question.

well actually I wouldn't have hired the guy either if he went bragging about it on social media, it would tell me this is not the guy I want to work with if he has to brag like that.

[Kara]

Some of the officers at my old job would play poker a few nights a week. One of our Captains played professionally and someone said she'd been on one of those TV poker shows a time or two. Either way, she had won several tournaments. But she refused to play, despite all their begging. Because it just wouldn't be fair.

[Kagato]

I'd say "play your best, but be a humble winner" - They may appreciate solid competition, but like most people, not like having their nose rubbed in the fact that they were outdone.