The Prince

Unfortunately, large organizations are rife with politics.  You're not going to be successful simply being nice and smart.  You'll have to outmaneuver others at times to get your agenda approved.  While poisoning others may not be apropos, the underlying rationale that "in difficult times really good ends can justify really bad means" still rings true.  Well written too.

That said, keep in mind that many people say they have read this book and have not.  Further, there is frequent use of the term "Machiavellian" referring to political intrigues and cunning that purportedly come from this book.  But frankly, that's a VERY thin reading.  There's more here than that.  And, keep in mind, this book was written 500 years ago, before management even as an IDEA existed.

Think of this as a prehistoric organizational treatise.