No (Expletive) Allowed! - [website] Published: 31st of Jan 2012 by: Miss Knowitall
Most of us know at least one person at work who is, let’s just say, ‘unpleasant’ to have to deal with.
Perhaps they bully their co-workers, throw around insults or hurtful sarcasm or maybe they’re just plain jerks.
We call them bullies, tyrants, creeps, jerks and idiots. Robert Sutton calls them assholes, and I can understand why.
In his book The No Asshole Rule Robert Sutton explains how one single asshole (while the term might be kinda harsh, Sutton was certainly right, it does have a ring of authenticity to it) in an organisation can negatively affect everything from production to expenditure. (Think time spent counselling both the victim and the abuser, overtime costs on last-minute decisions etc.)
He also explains how to get rid of these so-called assholes, but we’ll get to that in a second.
Firstly, what makes someone an asshole?
I bet a few names spring to mind, eh? The trouble is you can’t just start labelling people “Asshole” because you don’t like them. You’ve got to have a legitimate reason.
These are a few of the actions Sutton says assholes use everyday:
Personal insults, invading one’s personal space, uninvited physical contact, rude interruptions, treating people as if they are invisible… You get the picture.
Getting rid of these people is obviously a step forward in the direction of a more harmonious working environment, but how exactly do you enforce the No Asshole Rule?
Sutton explains that, too.
The following steps will help you weed out the assholes at your organisation – and also help you keep it that way!
1. Say the rule. Write it down. Act on it. – Sutton warns, however, that if you can’t or won’t follow the rule, don’t bother writing it down at all.
2. Keep your resident assholes out of the hiring process – they will hire other assholes. If you can’t keep them out of the employment process involve as many non-assholes as possible.
3. Remove assholes ASAP. Often companies leave it too long before getting rid of troublemakers, but once they do the reaction usually is, “What did we wait so long to do that for?”
4. Treat your assholes as incompetent employees. Even if they are great at their jobs, if they constantly demean others Sutton says they should be treated as incompetent.
5. Be careful who you give power to (even in small doses), it often goes to the head and creates an asshole out of someone seemingly nice.
6. Acknowledge that there is a pecking order at work, but try to downplay it as often as possible.
The sooner we all write down the zero-tolerance No Asshole rule the better – preferably in permanent ink!
