The No Asshole Rule
Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't
By: Robert I. Sutton PhD
Published: September 1, 2010
Format: Paperback, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 0446698202
ISBN-13: 978-0446698207
Publisher: Business Plus
"Every organization needs a no asshole rule because mean-spirited people do massive damage to victims, bystanders who suffer the ripple effects, organizational performance, and themselves", writes Professor of Management Science at Stanford University, Robert Sutton in his meticulously researched and seminal book The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't. The author describes the damage inflicted on people and organizations, as well as the hidden costs of having these unpleasant and demeaning people within a company.
Robert Sutton understands how destructive the bosses, co-workers, and subordinates he calls assholes can be to people and organizations. The author has experienced the venom of these socially maladjusted people first hand. Through his painstaking research of a wide variety of companies, across many industries and sectors, the author discovered that the asshole is an all too common menace in most offices. Robert Sutton describes in detail what he classifies as the twelve different types of these destructive personalities. From the very beginning of the book, the author makes it clear that his goal is to replace these demeaning people with decent people, who share the traits of common courtesy, collaboration, and respect for others. Robert Sutton is clear that he is not recommending hiring spineless wimps and yes people. Instead, he considers hiring people who respect others, and treat people with civility and cooperation.
Robert I. Sutton (photo left) shares his simple but valuable tests for determining another person's asshole factor. The first test asks if a person, having spoken and interacted with the other person feels oppressed, humiliated, or belittled. Even more importantly, does the demeaned person feel worse about himself or herself. The second test is whether the alleged asshole demean those less powerful than themselves, but not those who are more powerful. For Bob Sutton, the way a person treats subordinates and the non-powerful as opposed to the way the same individual interacts with those possessing more power, is a very good test of whether that person is an asshole. The author strongly encourages hiring and associating with people who treat everyone, regardless of their perceived power or lack thereof, with decency and respect. The author points to the benefits of hiring, retaining, and promoting good people to the productivity and job satisfaction of other employees, and also to the overall benefit to the company. For Robert Sutton, assholes in the organization are bad for business.
For me, the power of the book is how Robert Sutton describes the problems caused by the presence of the unpleasant assholes in a company. He points out the characteristics of these problem people, and shows clearly the damage they wreak on the organization, its employees, and customers. Along with the vivid description of what makes a person an asshole, Robert Sutton demonstrates how to work with these people, without being contaminated by their brand of venom. He also shares techniques and strategies for disarming these unsociable individuals, and for avoiding the tendency to let their insensitivity demean others or yourself. To prevent the addition of more assholes to the roster, and to ensure these people don't become the reigning force, Robert Sutton outlines his no asshole rule, and how to ensure it works and becomes a course of action for the company.
Robert Sutton strengthens his theoretical outline with real world examples of how some organizations have neutralized problem individuals within their own systems. These examples are useful for the reader to understand how assholes operate, and how they affect others around them. The examples and stories are bolstered by extensive research into the asshole phenomenon, and why it is so widespread in organizations of all types. The painstaking research provides important background to the issue, as well as offering tests to uncover hidden assholes within the company. There is even test in the book for the reader to determine one's own level of asshole traits and behavior. The practical strategies and tactics for surviving asshole laden organizations, and for dealing with those unpleasant people as individuals make this book a must have tool for workplace action and survival.
I highly recommend the seminal and highly readable book The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't by Robert I. Sutton, to anyone who has close encounters with boorish and insensitive people at work or elsewhere in one's life. The concept of having a no asshole rule as part of the company culture is brilliant, and essential in the modern organization. The costs of assholes in terms of personal well being, employment satisfaction, productivity, and company performance are simply too large to ignore.
Read the practical and very valuable guide The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't by Robert I. Sutton, and make your own workplace one where assholes dare not tread. Instead, transform your own organization into one where people treat one another, their customers, and everyone with whom they come into contact, with the respect they deserve as human beings. A no asshole rule will do wonders for your sanity, your productivity, your personal self esteem, and your overall performance. Your company will be more profitable, without the asshole generated distractions, as well.
