Every morning, millions of inhabitants rise with the sun and find themselves faced with new tasks and challenges. They are pitted against others in order to obtain the basics of life: food, shelter, in essence, their very survival. To prevail, they must form loose-knit alliances, but these can be broken at any time for the sake of obtaining individual reward. Some will be cast off by general consensus, while others will cling to the fragile protection of temporary triumph. Success, measured in how long you last, dictates how much you acquire. Those who make it do so through a combination of charm, skills, and luck.

Sound like a promo for a new survival-themed reality show? Well, it is reality, but this isn't a TV show. For many of us, it's just another day in the American workplace.

Maybe your boss is a stickler for the rules like Rudy from the first "Survivor" series. Or perhaps one of your coworkers has perfected the art of sailing through the workday without doing any actual work, a la Gervase. Maybe your department head is a master manipulator like Richard, or like Kelly, too indecisive and conflicted to get the job done. Chances are you've seen the makings of the next "Survivor" castaway in someone in the next cubicle, the corner office, even your bathroom mirror.

That's because the phenomenon that was "Survivor" really isn't one at all when you think about it. The game of outwit, outplay, outlast has been going on since man learned to stand upright and continues today in office parks all over America. If you're smart, you've been playing along. If not, be careful. Because if you don't have your allies lined up and you haven't won any challenges lately, the bright light of your career could be extinguished quicker than a snake can swallow a rat.

Don't see the similarities between "Survivor" and your job? Think about this: If you were stranded on an island, but could bring five people with you, who would you take? Did you name any coworkers? For most people, best friends, significant others, pets, even relatives would make the list before coworkers. ~

Real life Survivor

"I like many of the people I work with, but probably wouldn't have chosen to spend time with them," says career consultant, Michael Dobson, comparing employees' close proximity to each other at the office to being marooned on an island with strangers. Dobson, who along with his wife Deborah, wrote Enlightened Office Politics: Understanding, Coping With, and Winning the Game, says coworkers often mistake their office camaraderie for friendship. He finds that when people mix friendships with work, emotions can get in the way. "Relationships matter," Dobson says, "but don't mistake a business friend for a social friend." He considers castaway Rudy to be especially skilled in this area; the cantankerous Rudy wasn't shy about saying he was there to play a game and not to make friends.

Call for back-up

Maybe you didn't choose your coworkers, but you still need them. Just as on Pulau Tiga, alliances in the office play a critical role in your survival. Say you've got a great idea for a new project, but said project costs money the company isn't sure it should spend. As some lowly member of the tribe with no one voicing support for your ideas, your individual chances of getting it off the ground hover near zero. With the collective muscle of an alliance behind you, your chances are that much greater.

Even worse, let's say you are about to be voted off - through no fault of your own, of course. Budget cuts (sort of like a rice shortage) mean someone has to get the boot and it might as well be you. But then your allies rally to support you, and some other sacrificial lamb has to leave the circle. You've lived to play another day.

An alliance was the only thing that kept administrative assistant Stacey Swistun from going insane while she shared a tiny (10' x 10') office with a former boss, a money manager whose daily habits included eating smelly food, clipping his nails, and taking naps in the office. "I formed a group with three other girls in the office," she says. "Since my boss was always sitting directly behind me, and didn't allow me to have any friends in the office, I couldn't very well call anyone and complain about him." Whenever she couldn't take it anymore, she'd call on a member of the group, whisper a pre-arranged signal, and then meet them later in the bathroom to vent.

Another true story: When a former boss left to go to a competitor, the man who was second in command took over her duties while still doing his own job. A few months later, when the ex-boss's new company bought the old one, the guy was fired. The rub was, he wasn't let go because he was doing a bad job, but because he and his former boss had never gotten along and she didn't want to work with him again. Well, the merger of tribes, as the Tagi and Pagong witnessed, can be rocky. Solid allies and some type of immunity would have been helpful here. But the guy had none, so he was out. ~

Meet the challenge

This brings up another way that the show resembles the office: Immunity by any other name shall be known as job security. What's that, you ask? Just like an immunity idol that's up for grabs every week, job security isn't something to count on. Obtaining it isn't easy, and it lasts only as long as the enthusiasm for your latest successful project. But without it, your number could be up at any time.

That's where challenges come in. No, not in the expand-your-horizons sense. It's sort of like when Gervase helped the Pagong tribe in the rafting competition. He'd already lost the maggot-eating contest to Stacy and was known in his group for not doing any work, so coming through on the raft probably extended his stay on the island. In life and on "Survivor," Dobson says, "doing good work is not enough, but not doing good work is a big problem."

Doing good work can mean anything from bringing in a new client to increasing your department's productivity. By consistently doing a great job, you continuously bolster your personal immunity and potential for rewards (promotions, raises - even a $1,000,000 prize). At the same time, you're helping your company be the best it can be. And what boss doesn't like that?

Meow!

But sometimes the competitive drive for personal reward-in this case, the need to look good to peers and management-can go too far. Even close relationships can suddenly turn bitter. A business development consultant relates this story of a feud that erupted between former coworkers Sarah and Liz (not their real names) at an international media firm. Sarah resigned and while she was training Liz to take over her position, tensions flared between them. This was compounded by the fact that an outside contractor working closely with the company had doubts about Liz's abilities. Liz began to sense she wasn't held in such high regard.

Right after Sarah left, Liz "very unscrupulously went to IT, got deleted correspondence, and used it to wreak this woman's reputation," the consultant says. Liz went through Sarah's recovered messages until she found one from the contractor to Sarah stating it would be difficult to work with Liz. Sarah replied, expressing sympathy for the contractor. Armed with this, Liz went to the managing director in tears, telling him she'd found the message lying in the printer where other people could see it and that Sarah's remarks were damaging to her. Even though Sarah was no longer at the company and tried to assure the director that she'd deleted all the messages before leaving, the director called Sarah on the carpet for her lack of discretion, and Sarah's relationship with the company was damaged. Sad as it may seem, betrayal is a tactic for survival as well.

Not every office dispute is doomed to turn into a workplace brawl reminiscent of Susan and Kelly. Most really do subscribe to the Gretchen Theory: They want success, but won't go out their way to harm someone else to get it. Dobson's advice is to be aware of what your coworkers are doing, but focus more on what you can do to help yourself. "People with a purpose and an agenda have the power," he says. Because ultimately, succeeding in that jungle we call the office depends on keeping your instincts for survival razor sharp.