The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't

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Author: Robert I. Sutton PhD

ISBN-10: 0446698202

ISBN-13: 9780446698207

Category: Business Life & Skills

The definitive guide to working with -- and surviving -- bullies, creeps, jerks, tyrants, tormentors, despots, backstabbers, egomaniacs, and all the other assholes who do their best to destroy you at work. "What an asshole!" How many times have you said that about someone at work? You're not alone! In this groundbreaking book, Stanford University professor Robert I. Sutton builds on his acclaimed Harvard Business Review article to show you the best ways to deal with assholes...and why...

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The No Asshole Rule is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Business Week bestseller. It won a Quill Award for the top business book of 2007, and was recently chosen as one of audible.com's top picks as well. Publishers Weekly This meticulously researched book, which grew from a much buzzed-about article in the Harvard Business Review, puts into plain language an undeniable fact: the modern workplace is beset with assholes. Sutton (Weird Ideas that Work), a professor of management science at Stanford University, argues that assholes-those who deliberately make co-workers feel bad about themselves and who focus their aggression on the less powerful-poison the work environment, decrease productivity, induce qualified employees to quit and therefore are detrimental to businesses, regardless of their individual effectiveness. He also makes the solution plain: they have to go. Direct and punchy, Sutton uses accessible language and a bevy of examples to make his case, providing tests to determine if you are an asshole (and if so, advice for how to self-correct), a how-to guide to surviving environments where assholes freely roam and a carefully calibrated measure, the "Total Cost of Assholes," by which corporations can assess the damage. Although occasionally campy and glib, Sutton's work is sure to generate discussions at watercoolers around the country and deserves influence in corporate hiring and firing strategies. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction 1\ Chapter 1 What Workplace Assholes Do and Why You Know So Many 7\ Chapter 2 The Damage Done: Why Every Workplace Needs the Rule 27\ Chapter 3 How to Implement the Rule, Enforce It, and Keep It Alive 51\ Chapter 4 How to Stop Your "Inner Jerk" from Getting Out 93\ Chapter 5 When Assholes Reign: Tips for Surviving Nasty People and Workplaces 125\ Chapter 6 The Virtues of Assholes 153\ Chapter 7 The No Asshole Rule as a Way of Life 177\ Epilogue 185\ Additional Reading 217\ Acknowledgments 221\ Index 227

\ Publishers WeeklyThis meticulously researched book, which grew from a much buzzed-about article in the Harvard Business Review, puts into plain language an undeniable fact: the modern workplace is beset with assholes. Sutton (Weird Ideas that Work), a professor of management science at Stanford University, argues that assholes-those who deliberately make co-workers feel bad about themselves and who focus their aggression on the less powerful-poison the work environment, decrease productivity, induce qualified employees to quit and therefore are detrimental to businesses, regardless of their individual effectiveness. He also makes the solution plain: they have to go. Direct and punchy, Sutton uses accessible language and a bevy of examples to make his case, providing tests to determine if you are an asshole (and if so, advice for how to self-correct), a how-to guide to surviving environments where assholes freely roam and a carefully calibrated measure, the "Total Cost of Assholes," by which corporations can assess the damage. Although occasionally campy and glib, Sutton's work is sure to generate discussions at watercoolers around the country and deserves influence in corporate hiring and firing strategies. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalSutton (Weird Ideas That Work) has taught management science and engineering for more than a decade at Stanford University, where he formed his early opinions about recruiting, hiring, and retaining pleasant yet effective colleagues. Here he deals with organizational dynamics. Unlike many books (e.g., Jean A. Hollands's Red Ink Behavior and Robert Herbold's The Fiefdom Syndrome), Sutton's does not postulate that destructive behaviors need to be corrected or that the employees responsible for these behaviors need to be fired. Instead, he suggests that we are all difficult sometimes and that being difficult can, in certain scenarios, actually contribute to our effectiveness as managers. He balances this argument with the premise that some people are "certified assholes" who are difficult to fire because they are often in positions of authority and are mistakenly deemed talented and effective by their superiors. Sutton's book is very readable, and people in any type of organization with "people problems" would benefit from using it to inspire some fresh thinking. Large general circulation libraries might include it in a section about careers or management; corporate libraries with a human resources section should also consider.\ —Stephen Turner\ \ \