View source for Stable Strategies for Middle Management

{{Infobox short story
| name              = Stable Strategies for Middle Management
| author            = [[Eileen Gunn]]
| language          = [[English language|English]]
| genre             = [[Science fiction]] 
| published_in      = ''[[Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine]]''
| publication_type  = [[Magazine]]
| pub_date          = June 1988
}}

'''"Stable Strategies for Middle Management"''' is a [[science fiction]] [[short story]] published in 1988 by [[Eileen Gunn]].

==Plot summary==
Margaret is a corporate executive who, to prove her loyalty to the company, undergoes bioengineering that gradually transforms her into a giant insect.

==Reception==
"Stable Strategies for Middle Management" was a finalist for the 1989 [[Hugo Award for Best Short Story]].<ref name=Hugo>[http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1989-hugo-awards/ 1989 Hugo Awards], at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved September 9, 2021</ref>

''[[Strange Horizons]]'' considered that it "must come high in any list of best SF short stories";<ref name=Strange>[http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/reviews/questionable-practices-by-eileen-gunn/ Questionable Practices by Eileen Gunn], reviewed by Andy Sawyer, at ''[[Strange Horizons]]'', published June 16, 2014; retrieved September 9, 2021</ref> similarly, [[Michael Swanwick]] has placed it on his personal "short list (...) of the best short stories of the late twentieth century."<ref name=Swanwick>[https://www.michaelswanwick.com/nonfic/strategies.html  About Stable Strategies...], by [[Michael Swanwick]], at MichaelSwanwick.com; published 2005; retrieved September 9, 2021</ref>

==Background==
The story is inspired by Gunn's experiences as an advertising director at [[Microsoft]].<ref name=Background>''Stable Strategies and Others'', by Eileen Gunn; published 2004 by [[Tachyon Publications]]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{isfdb title|40920}}

[[Category:Science fiction short stories]]
[[Category:1988 short stories]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction]]


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