No assholes allowed

I recently stumbled upon a new book at Chapters. Usually I only buy books that have been recommended by friends. But this one jumped off the shelf with its title.

Never buy a book by its cover, right? We do it all of the time. We call it gut instinct. The book opened my imagination immediately. It made me think of all the people I've worked with over the years that were jerks. It made me think of my own actions and how I may have acted jerkily.

The book is titled, "The No Asshole Rule", by Robert I. Sutton. Here's what is written on the back cover:

"The definitive guide to working with - and surviving - bullies, creeps, jerks, tyrants, tormentors, despots, backstabbers, egomaniacs and all other assholes who do their best to destroy you at work". 

I've labelled these people as sociopaths, but I like Dr. Sutton's straight to the point branding better.

He says that assholes need to be removed from the workplace. They are poison to culture. In many cases they will be high achievers. They will be constantly rewarded for measurable results. You won't be able to measure their poison and they generally aren't held accountable for ill effects they cause. The bad work will be translated into poor morale, poor work by counterparts, employee attrition and potentially lost revenues.

If you have assholes in your company and you have the power to get rid of them. Remove the poison quickly and surgically. They are not growing your business. They are hurting the reputation of your company.

Remember the story of the stinky kid in school. If you don't know who is the smelly kid in school, it's probably you.

If you look around your office and you don't have any assholes, either you have an amazing, productive organization or you're the asshole.

Do you know the easy way not to have assholes in your company. Don't hire them! If you're responsible for hiring, identify candidates who display tendencies of caring, and nurturing. Assholes only care about themselves. They put profit (both personal and organizational) ahead of people.

People have to come first, always. It is a known fact that organizations that put people first, always get more profit long term. Plus it's always more fun working for that type of company than the alternative. Fun keeps people engaged in the vision.

My next company, I'm going to have a sign put in everyone's office, "No assholes allowed". It'll remind everyone what we stand for first.

Ta ta for now!