For anyone who believes that the desire for revenge is the product of a twisted mind, it is illuminating to discover that the real motivation being expressed in your overpowering urge to fill your boss's Gucci briefcase with peanut butter is "righteous anger, a set of emotions that have a moral foundation, reflecting a sense of violation." If true, this means that rather than being ashamed of your obsessive desire to wreak havoc on your boss's leather accessories, you should embrace your truly admirable desire to readdress a moral order that is plainly out of whack.
Of course, the form of revenge you choose does reflect your own individual -- and, may I say, quite charming -- character disorders. If you have a strong self-image, for example, you could choose the "Private Confrontation," in which you go toe-to-toe with the offender, expressing your feelings honestly and openly. This could be psychologically healthy, but it tends to create a culture of candor and truthfulness, and that could lead to mass firings. Better to take to the high road, utilizing your industrial-strength insincerity to pretend to really like the people you loathe, and spread spurious rumors about them when their backs are turned. Now that's maturity.
For workers who do not wish to carry grudges or nurse revenge fantasies, the book provides a checklist of "Ten Fateful Questions for the Would-Be Avenger." I never got past No. 1, "Are you sure the offender deserves the retaliation?" The authors' point is that what you perceive as a brilliant plot cleverly crafted to humiliate and antagonize could simply be stupidity. It's hard to argue with this reasoning, but I don't embrace it. If we didn't wreak revenge on the stupid, management would get a free pass.
Besides, you already know the best revenge on any company dumb enough to hire you -- just keep working there.
