January 11, 2010
Assholes in the Workplace?
Posted in Business Related tagged asshole, bob sutton, boss, jerk, management, no asshole rule, organizational behavior, workplace behavior at 9:21 pm by vernonryoung
The No Asshole Rule is about discovering who is harmful to the organization and should be labeled as an asshole, controlling one’s own tendency to act out these traits and to limit the amount of damage that these individuals can cause to the workplace. The objective is for each organization to create a rule for identifying and screening out these people so that they can be branded and the organization can attempt to establish damage control.
The behaviors that characterize an asshole include all of the dirty dozen that Robert Sutton mentions in his book. This can include personal insults, threats and intimidation, sarcastic jokes or teasing, rude interruptions and public shaming among others. If these behaviors are consistent, then the person is labeled as a certified asshole as opposed to being only a temporary asshole (which we all act like occasionally).
These behaviors can be detrimental to creating a productive workplace and can break down a structure that is already productive in the workplace if these assholes are allowed to continue the performance. The effects of their behavior are felt by a large group of people within the organization and can be transmitted like a disease. It is possible that people, who at first are agitated by a behavior of an asshole, may not be able to solve the problem on their own and in return start to act like assholes themselves so as to survive the anxiety in the work environment. These behaviors are usually small repetitive events but can also be large scale dramatic episodes that disrupt the workplace. This can contribute to reduced job satisfaction and productivity, trouble concentrating at work, and mental and physical health problems. Each worker is part of a larger organization so the effects can be felt by the organization as a whole. The top sales partner was a great example of how an entire organization can feel the effects.
Sutton suggests that two tests be applied to discover whether you are dealing with a certified asshole or not. First you want to examine how the asshole makes the target person feel after the encounter. If they are left feeling down, depressed, unhappy or totally annoyed by the experience, you may be dealing with an a-hole, but need to further examine. The next step is to test whether these behaviors are being enacted against someone who has more power within the organization or less. Typically assholes will be harassing those who have less power and if your examination shows that harassment is to someone with less power, combined with the first part of the rule, you know you are dealing with a certified asshole.
Once you know you have assholes in your organization, you need to create a rule to screen out or limit those behaviors. It helps to make the policy or rule public so your actions against assholes are seen by others in the organization. It is also good to keep an asshole around the workplace to provide an example to others of how not to act. As for selection and hiring, the most important point is that we tend to hire others who are like us and this would only spread assholes if we have them in the organization! It is very important to create the rule, enforce it and remove as many as possible so that more are not hired into the structure. This was referred to as the homosocial reproduction or cloning effect found in the selection process.
When dealing with assholes in the workplace, you should use this to do list for students and organizational members to survive the experience. You must apply the tests to know the true status of the person you are dealing with. Test one – does the target feel oppressed, humiliated, de-energized, or belittled by the person? In particular does the target feel worse about him or herself? Test two – does the alleged asshole aim his or her venom at people who are less powerful rather than at people who are more powerful? If test one and two are affirmative, you are dealing with a certified asshole and need to implement the some steps to deal with that person. Sutton offers a list of ways to deal with a certified A-hole. Depending on the situation, one should offer some relief.
a) First, change how you see things. Try to let the energy just slide down you like raindrops on a glass wall. Don’t let it stick and remember that you have other things that will enter your day soon. The author gave the example of a woman who fell out of the raft during a rapids expedition and remembered what her rafting guide has instructed her: if you fall out of the boat, don’t try to fight it. Just rely on your life vest and float with your feet in front of you to protect your head. You can do the same with assholes.
b) Hope for the best and expect the worst. In this way you will live for the little good things that happen around you and the big bad nasty things that happen periodically will be expected and not have any surprise factor.
c) Develop an indifference and emotional detachment. Don’t be passionate about the encounters with assholes. It is very hard and nearly impossible to convert a certified asshole where he or she stands barking at you. Instead try not to be emotionally involved in the discussion and pursue other roads to eliminating assholes from your environment.
d) Look for small wins. Like with the idea of hoping for the best and expecting the worst, little wins throughout the day are meaningful. Especially when you win a small battle over an asshole, resonate in it and enjoy it. In a book titled Judgement in Managerial Decision Making by Bazerman and Moore (Harvard Business School and Carnegie Mellon University, respectively), we learn that losses hurt much more than gains because of the decreasing marginal utility of gains. For example, a gambler may play 11 hands of blackjack in a row for bets of equal value. When he or she loses 3 or 4 it is much more memorable than even a majority of wins (7 or 8 more wins than losses!). Overcoming this bias in the mind is important when dealing with assholes. Accumulate the small wins, enjoy them and value the damaging encounters less.
e) Limit your exposure to assholes. If you are forced to attend a meeting or if you boss is the asshole it can be tougher, but try to surround yourself with others who effect you in a more positive way rather than surrounding yourself with assholes consistently.
f) Build pockets of safety, support and sanity. Like with the last suggestion, hide from the assholes using a network of people who feel the way you do about assholes. Together you can survive much better than relying on your own.
g) Fight and win the right small battles. This will help you accumulate the small wins that were mentioned before. Be careful not to throw all your resources, passion and effort at a battle that you cannot win. That would only leave you traumatized and beaten.
Bob Sutton’s book is an integral part of organization behavior and is widely recognized for its approach and insight. I recommend it to anyone who has a job and most definitely to anyone who has subordinates. Analyze YOUR behavior and make sure you are not being an asshole!
