We apologize for using a word that may offend the sensibilities of some. We'll alternate between the vulgarity, and the more accepted "jerk." We hope that after reading, you'll agree it's worth discussing.
As you can tell from the length of the post, we like the book. Read it!
Stanford University professor and Robert Sutton has not only legitimized the word "asshole" in business conversation -- he's made it practically unavoidable.
"It all started in 2003 with a half-serious proposal that I made to Harvard Business Review, when their senior editor Julia Kirby asked if I had any suggestions for HBR's annual list of 'Breakthrough Ideas.' I told Julia that the best business practice I knew of was the 'no asshole rule.'"
Despite Sutton's expectation that no such title would ever be published by HBR, the article was embraced, and drew so much media attention that he followed it up with the frank, amusing and well-researched book, very directly titled The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't. If you're actively dealing with a jerk, read it. You may find help with your current situation, and at worst, will better be able to recognize and avoid assholes in the future.
Sutton offers welcoming reassurance to anyone who has ever thought, "I don't care how productive this guy/woman is, it's just not worth it to put up with him/her."
Experts agree, and for sound business reasons. Assholes are not worth it. Sutton shows that whatever numbers the jerk generates in terms of individual sales or productivity, more comprehensive metrics prove that jerks take a tremendous toll on morale, overall productivity, and unnecessary turnover.
A partial list of factors Sutton suggested we consider when calculating TCA (Total Cost of Assholes)
- Distraction from tasks, the effort devoted to avoiding unpleasant exchanges, recovering from them, avoiding blame.
- Damaged sense of safety and an environment of fear that discourages "discretionary effort," suggestions, risk-taking, learning from own and others' failures, and honest discussion.
- Reduced motivation and energy at work.
- Stress-induced physical and emotional illness.
- Potentially impaired mental acuity.
- Continual and ongoing bullying transforms targets into assholes.
- Absenteeism
- Turnover due to asshole's abusive supervision, plus time spent looking for new job while at work
- Costs of victims' retribution toward the company.
- "Combat pay" for those who stay.
- Time spent "cooling out" victimized customers, contract employees, suppliers, outsiders, and internal employees who are victimized.
- Settlement fees and successful litigation by both victims, and alleged assholes (wrongful termination claims).
- Increased health insurance costs.
When those factors are considered, it becomes apparent that assholes cost more than they are worth. Add in the damage to personal lives, marriages, and other relationships, and assholes become a toxin that must be removed.
Have you experienced or witnessed
any of Sutton's "Dirty Dozen"?
These are common everyday actions that assholes use. - Personal insults
- Invading ones "personal territory"
- Uninvited physical contact
- Threats & intimidation, both verbal and non-verbal
- Sarcastic 'jokes' and 'teasing' used as insult delivery systems
- Withering e-mail flames
- Status slaps intended to humiliate
- Public shaming or 'status degradation' rituals
- Rude interruptions
- Two-faced attacks
- Dirty looks
- Treating people as if they're invisible
If you haven't, then you're among the lucky few. Sutton cites one study showing that 27 percent of workers in a representative sample of Michigan residents experienced mistreatment by someone in the workplace, with one in six reporting persistent psychological abuse. And a 1997 study of 130 U.S. nurses found that an astounding 90 percent reporting being victims of verbal abuse from physicians during the previous year.
If you have, then you're obviously not alone. We empathize. Without real concrete incentive to change, such as forceful intervention from higher-level management or powerbrokers, it is difficult to stop an asshole. While some are unaware of the effect their behavior has on those around them, others may simply not care, or not be able to control themselves.
Sutton writes of several levels of asshole:
- "Temporary assholes" are having a bad day or moment. Miscommunications and frustrating situations can at times bring out the worst in all of us. All of us have probably offended, if only by rolling ones eyes during a difficult meeting. As long as offenses are infrequent, apologized for, and an isolated aberration from usually friendly, respectful behavior, temporary assholes are part of life.
- "Certified assholes" are workplace polluters who "display a persistent pattern of episodes that end with one 'target' after another feeling belittled, put down, humiliated, disrespected, oppressed, de-energized, and generally worse about themselves."
- "Flaming assholes"... 'nuff said.
- "Two-faced backstabbers" are particularly noxious weeds. They "have enough skill and emotional control to save their dirty work for moments when they can't get caught, and are much tougher to stop, even though they do as much damage as a raging maniac."
Sutton proposes two steps for detecting assholes: find those who persistently leave others feeling demeaned and de-energized; then look to see if their victims generally have less power and social standing than the tormentor. The basic hallmark of assholes is "kiss up, kick down." Does the alleged asshole persistently leave the person he interacts with feeling worse about him- or herself?
Hundreds of cross-disciplinary studies have attempted to define practices that lead to greater productivity. Supportive, warm work environments that reward risk-taking and creative thinking are often most productive. Assholes utterly destroy creative, supportive, productive teams and create a contagion of anger, resentment, and bad behavior. The more powerful the asshole, and the longer his or her behavior goes unaddressed, the more widespread the effects, and the harder to recover from.
Sutton writes, "Research on everything from student groups to top management teams reveals that constructive arguments over ideas -- but not nasty personal arguments -- drives greater performance, especially when teams do non-routine work."
Certain industries in particular are haunted by the myth of the "temperamental rock star", which misleads companies into hiring and retaining -- with gritted teeth and clenched fists -- assholes who put up good numbers. They're often considered part of the price of doing business. Sutton writes, "There is so much evidence that civilized workplaces are not a naive dream, that they do exist, and that pervasive contempt can be replaced with mutual respect when a team or organization is managed right -- and civilized workplaces usually enjoy superior performance as well."
There is hope. The workplace is changing as the nature of our work shifts more to knowledge work requiring good interpersonal relations and teamwork. Owners and management are paying attention. For example, Virgin founder Richard Branson devised a test to avoid assholes; he dressed as a chauffeur and picked up candidates personally. Other companies are actively training HR and other hiring professionals to weed out asshole candidates.
In the meantime, Sutton recommends you ask yourself: "Am I part of the problem, or part of the solution?" Your answer may determine the course of your career.
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