====== Sabotage ======

**Definition:**  
*Sabotage* refers to the **deliberate act of obstructing, damaging, or undermining** a person, project, institution, or process, often in a **covert or indirect manner**, with the intent to **hinder success or cause failure**.

===== Characteristics =====
  * Intentional and strategic disruption.
  * May be **covert** (hidden, passive-aggressive) or **overt** (blatant, confrontational).
  * Often motivated by **rivalry**, **resentment**, **fear of displacement**, or **power struggles**.
  * Can occur in academic, professional, institutional, or political settings.

===== Forms of Sabotage =====
  * Withholding critical information or resources.
  * Undermining colleagues through gossip or discrediting.
  * Delaying or obstructing publication, approvals, or decisions.
  * Creating bureaucratic or procedural obstacles.
  * Manipulating evaluations, peer reviews, or selection processes.

===== Related Concepts =====
  * Undermining
  * Passive-aggressiveness
  * Institutional betrayal
  * [[Toxic leadership]]
  * Destructive rivalry

===== Opposite Term =====
  * Support – actions that enable success, collaboration, or progress.

===== Application Example =====
  * In academic neurosurgery, sabotage may involve delaying a junior colleague’s publication or grant application to prevent them from advancing within the department.