Dem Bullies Gotta Go
I've worked with some really great people in my lifetime, but there sure have been a few jerkfaces. Like when I was reconstructing industrial melting furnaces, one of my coworkers was one of the worst human beings I've ever known. He repeatedly called me a commy because I didn't drive an American car - I didn't even have a freakin car- and because, you know, I didn't subscribe to his bigoted ramblings. Another time, while driving back from a job in Minneapolis, he got so mad at my unwillingness to share his beliefs that he intimidated me with a knife, a very big knife. He was crazy. But he was not only crazy, he is what Bob Sutton (Weird Ideas That Work) rightfully calls an asshole. You know the type. Assholes are those loud bullies who continue making people feel bad about themselves in the workplace. I'm sure you all have a few asshole stories of your own. Well, you are certainly not alone, as evidence by Sutton's new and awesome book, The No Asshole Rule.
Thank Jerome that I can't remember that jerk's name. It's just one less...Gosh Darnit...I remembered his name. Anyways, that guy (I refuse to type his name), my former coworker, fit all the requirements of a workplace asshole. He poisoned the workplace environment (not that standing in a 120 degree melting furnace with a jackhammer is a very good work environment), he definitely decreased productivity (sometimes I had to just walk away, and you can't do your job when you walk away), he induced other good and hardworking employees to quit (ding ding ding), and he sapped the energy of others (knifes are stress-inducing). He was a "certified asshole."
Nobody wants to work with an asshole. So what does Bob Sutton suggest we do? What would Bob do if that asshole was exceptional in his specific role? CAN HIM (OR HER)! There's simply no beating around the bush on this one. They must go, because if they don't go, others will, and that aint good. But this book says much more than, "Fire assholes."
Have you ever taken a test to determine whether or not you are an asshole? Probably not, but you can if you get The No Asshole Rule. And if you ARE an ass, there are tips for self-correction. The book also acts as a sort of survival guide if you are a helpless co-worker in an environment of free roaming assholes. That would really stink. Wow!
Finally, one of the coolest things about Sutton's book is that he has carefully devised a measure by which companies can firmly assess the damage that assholes are doing or have done. It's aptly called, "The Total Cost of Assholes."
So if you are an asshole, knock it off already. If you work with them, get this book. If similar practices to Bob's can help transform Jet Blue, Google, and the Men's Warehouse, they can help you too.
Oh, one last thing. I would recommend just typing this book title into google to check out what everyone else (holy cow that's a lot of people) is saying.
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