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&lt;p&gt;For many in the corporate world, the holiday season means one thing, and one thing only: that the office holiday party is right around the corner&amp;mdash;along with the typical advice on how to survive the party without denting your reputation. But such advice is offered in entirely the wrong spirit&amp;mdash;it operates from the assumption you need to be told how to behave, and preys on a fear that a lot of people have: that one mistake will end your career.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;embeddedObject&quot; style=&quot;float: left;&quot; src=&quot;http://www.vault.com/VCM/articles/Office-party-poll-result.png&quot; alt=&quot;2010 Office Party Poll Results&quot; width=&quot;259&quot; height=&quot;238&quot; align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;Any amateur psychologist will tell you that when your fears dictate your behavior, your behavior will be fearful. And anyone who&#39;s ever been to a party will know that a room full of cagey people trying their best not to slip up does not a good time make. And if you&#39;re not planning on having a good time, what&#39;s the point of a party?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Holiday party advice tends to overlook one thing: these events are supposed to be &lt;em&gt;fun&lt;/em&gt;. They&#39;re supposed to reward employees for another year of hard work, and to facilitate a collegial spirit in the workplace.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With that in mind, then, here&#39;s what you should do this year:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go to the party. Try to have fun. Talk to people&amp;mdash;even people you don&amp;rsquo;t know. Try not to talk about work. If you drink, have a couple.  Then go home. In short, do what you would at any other social gathering at any other time of year: be yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you need more advice than that on how to comport yourself in public, then you don&#39;t need career information&amp;mdash;you need help!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;--Phil Stott, Vault.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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