Yes, it is a way. The issue is which is the percentage better way.

I mean, someone can be mean and spiteful and hate everything about work and make everyone around them miserable. Certianly we've all known people like that. And that means it certainly is a way to go about things. But percentage-wise of a way to go, I don't know, maybe it works better for the person who is mean and spiteful and makes everyone around them miserable.

So I guess you're right. If someone wants to be miserable to themselves and others, if someone wants to make friends and then get involved in the factional warefare, if someone wants to make friends and then you are promoted over your friend who wants the promotion, or they are promoted and you are not, and then have to fire your friend, or get fired, and then hate them forever and feel like you were stabbed in the back....well, hey, it's your life.

I don't know what other "ways" you are specifically talking about, though. But as I said, the trade-off is that with MY way, you don't get involved in petty office backstab bullshit, you don't have arguments with your friends after you know them for a while and find out that you hate them and now you have to work at a place and avoid the other person all the time. But I, since I only work on the pure professional level, ALL of this never happens to me. Never. I go to work, do my job, friendly and polite to all, diplomatic, tactful, never engage in office backstabbings, no factionalisms, everyone likes me because of it, everyone respects me. I don't get sidelined by petty bullshit, I don't have people coming up to me and talking to me for 45 minutes about how much they hate such-and-such person and why they are horrible person. I don't know....call me crazy, but I like being liked, and not drawn into work bullshit, because everyone knows better and doesn't even try to involve me. So how can anyone ever be mad at me, unless I fuck up on my job? Then that's on me and is ok. But I rarely screw up on my job because I don't waste my time on bullshit like factional office warfare and gossiping, and instead, do this think called work - doing what I was hired to do.

Interestingly, I'm very friendly at work, and yet rarely if ever someone comes to my desk to bitch about someone else for 45 minutes. You might be exagerating the cons of estabilishing connections with people. I, for one, prefer to make friends, because this just makes passing the days so much easier and more fun. Without people to talk to, the job (esp. being stuck in an office) would feel a lot like doing a prison sentence. I can't find joy in gamifying the tasks like you do.