|
|
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't (Audio CD)
by Robert I. Sutton
| Category:
Management, Organizational Behavior, Workplace, Business life |
| Market price: ¥ 278.00
MSL price:
¥ 248.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
|
|
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Common sense dressed in modern business context, this book is the definitive survival guide for dealing with workplace bullying. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
|
|
|
Author: Robert I. Sutton
Publisher: Hachette Audio; Abridged edition
Pub. in: February, 2007
ISBN: 1594838674
Pages: 210
Measurements: 5.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BB00082
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-1594838675
|
|
Rate this product:
|
|
- Awards & Credential -
A popular management book that has sold 150,000 copies. Ranked #2 on Amazon.com in Organizational Behavior/Workplace category as of August 30, 2007. |
|
- MSL Picks -
Bob Sutton's veryy readable and well-researched book, The No A-hole Rule, comes right to the point: we know who these people are, we work with them every day, many of them are our bosses, let's call them by the name we all know: A-holes.
These are the folks, mostly managers but they can be your co-workers, who demean and damage those with less power. These are the employees who ingratiate themselves upward, and kick anyone below who seems "irrelevant." They are forceful, nasty, obnoxious and often underhanded, spreading their poison in subtle or obvious ways. However they do it, they leave a trail of oppressed, humiliated and de-energized subordinates. They aren't worth the trouble, Sutton argues.
Sutton's argument is laid out in no-nonsense terms: a-holes cost money, demoralize staff and turn off customers. Research shows, Sutton writes, that companies cannot afford even top performers (for example, top dollar-generating salespeople) who are a-holes because the actual cost (TCA = Total Cost of A-holes) must be viewed in terms of what it costs the company in turnover, lost sales and lost productivity in the remaining staff who are forced to spend a lot of time avoiding or protecting themselves from a-holes.
Sutton's advice: Get rid of them. Failing that, at least don't let them on search committees because they breed like rabbits.
Although this book is gaining traction through its appealing message and highly contagious name, Sutton, a Stanford professor of management science and engineering, has not written a book that should be considered "trendy," even though its time has surely come. This is sound, real-life advice, based on research, that I believe will stand the test of time.
If you're thinking of hiring an a-hole, if you work with or under an a-hole or two or three (a "den of a-holes," as Sutton so aptly describes such workplaces), if you think you might be an a-hole, this book is for you. It's filled with advice for everyone, including who not to hire in an a-hole's place (wimps and polite clones need not apply).
I'm so glad Sutton had the courage to write this book. It needed to be said, and said in a way that people can understand. I have applied its concepts and am trying to spread his message at the company where I work, which was once ruled by a major a-hole, who hired and promoted a bunch of clones. That president is now gone, but his "residue" lingers. The new president is far more enlightened, and there is hope that he might establish the No A-hole Rule here.
(From quoting M. Robbins, USA)
Target readers:
All working professionals, be it in business, nonprofit, government, schools or any other type of organization, where you have people and ranks.
|
|
Robert Sutton is Professor of Management Science and Engineering in the Stanford Engineering School, where he is Co-Director of the Center for Work, Technology, an active member of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, and a cofounder of the new Hasso Planter Institute of Design, a multi-disciplinary program at Stanford that teaches and spreads "design thinking." Sutton is also an IDEO Fellow. Sutton studies the links between managerial knowledge and organizational action, innovation, and organizational performance, and has published over 100 articles in academic and applied publications. Sutton is author of Weird Ideas That Work: 11 ½ Practices for Promoting, Managing, and Sustaining Innovation (Free Press, 2002) and co-author (with Jeffrey Pfeffer) of both The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Firms Turn Knowledge Into Action (Harvard Business School Press, 2000 and of Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management (Harvard Business School Press, 2006).
|
|
From 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.
(MSL quote)
|
| View all 8 comments |
David Siegfried (Boolist, MSL quote), USA
<2007-08-31 00:00>
We all know them or know of them--the jerks and bullies at work who demean, criticize, and sap the energy of others, usually their underlings. It could be the notorious bad boss or the jealous coworker, but everyone agrees that they make life miserable for their victims and create a hostile and emotionally stifling environment. Fed up with how these creeps treat others and poison the workplace, Sutton declares war and comes out calling them exactly what they are - "certified assholes." Caricatured in sitcoms such as The Office, these brutes are too often tolerated until irreparable damage is done to individuals and the organization as a whole. Sutton's "no asshole rule" puts a stop to the abuse in no uncertain terms. Similar rules have transformed such companies as JetBlue, the Men's Wearhouse, and Google into shining examples of workplaces where positive self-esteem creates a more productive, motivated, and satisfied workforce. If you have ever been a victim, just reading Sutton's analysis brings calm relief, empowerment, and reassurance that you're not alone. |
Jean Pouliot (MSL quote), USA
<2007-08-31 00:00>
Whether they are called jerks, bullies or a**holes, every organization has people who seem designed precisely to increase the misery of others. Though some of these folks are enormously talented in their own way, their personalities are so defective that whatever positives they bring are drowned out by a vast sea of negatives. Whether an organization is headed by one of these miserable SOBs or is simply awash in them, Robert Sutton's little book gives the rest of us the tools to identify them and (at least try to) drain their power.
Sutton bases his conclusions on his personal experiences and on the seemingly extensive sociological and even zoological research that has been done on workplace bullying. It doesn't say much about human bullying that it so closely mirrors that found in baboons fighting over control of the food at a garbage dump. Lower-ranked males and female baboons get more than their share of shoves, bites and threats - just as in the office. Sutton shows how animalistic human interactions like these drive much of the unhappiness and lost productivity that we experience there.
Sutton describes how social distance - say between managers and subordinates - is a significant predictor of bullying. While many organizations revel in paying their executives exorbitant salaries, some buck the trend and are very profitable. Costco, where CEO James Sinegal sets his pay at no more than 10 times the amount of his lowest paid worker, is an example. Sinegal's deliberate strategy is to reduce the social distance between himself and his employees, helping to set the stage for a productive workplace. And it seems to be working.
Sutton describes how to calculate the TCA - "total cost of a**holes". This is the extra cost that meanies bring to the workplace in terms of lost productivity, time wasted in consoling victims, plotting revenge, and the time wasted by managers and human resources on coaching and retraining the offender. Though the biggest a**holes are often the biggest producers, Sutton shows how their departure can actually improve group productivity. After one nasty star salesman at Mens Wearhouse was let go, productivity at that branch shot up 30% - more than offsetting the loss of the bully. The fear that companies have about dumping their a**hole superstars is ill-founded.
Sutton's book is skimpy in two ways. It could have used juicier a**hole horror stories. And his prescription for dealing with a**holes is weak. In capitalist cultures, being an a**hole can be precisely what makes one successful. People like Steve Jobs of Apple are famous for using intimidation and tantrums to get their way. And even Sutton admits that being an a**hole is a necessary tactic in some situations. So in a culture that runs on and rewards a**hole behavior, victims have few options beyond limiting their contact or mentally disengaging when the chimps start hurling turds. Sadly, sometimes the only weapon one has is to imagine a devastating revenge, even if one never uses it. The mere thought that someday, a "that guy is gonna get his" is enough to help victims through another demoralizing day at the office.
I had originally intended to give this book three stars, but I have been talking about it for days. That rates it an extra star. Though Sutton has no foolproof way for getting rid of a**holes (other than not hiring them in the first place) the book shows that when it comes to a**holes, not everyone has to have one. |
A HR Consultant (MSL quote), USA
<2007-08-31 00:00>
I consult to organizations about "people problems." I have recommended this best-seller to a lot of clients, especially managers who are interested in attracting and keeping good people - unfortunately, too many companies have a-hole managers who driving good people out and that create waves of fear that dampen creativity and productivity. Chapter 2 makes a strong argument about why organizations that treat people like dirt are shooting themselves in the foot. It shows that the costs are higher than many managers realize.
Chapter 3, on "How to Implement the Rule, Enforce It, and Keep It Alive," is the one that I emphasize and that my clients find especially useful. It shows goes through the steps that good companies take - and that bad companies ought to take - to hire, train, reward, and (when necessary) punish and expel nasty people. Sutton not only uses academic research to bolster this advice, he takes examples from a wide range of organizations, from law firms to Southwest Airlines to Gold's Gym.
I've also suggested Sutton's ARSE Test to a lot of my clients, and they find that fun as well - it is a "self-exam" and a lot of people have completed it (it is in the book and on the web on Guy Kawasaki's blog).
This isn't a long book, but it is filled with great ideas. I especially recommend it for people who work in HR, but just about everyone encounters jerks at work, and Sutton's little book can help. |
Sylvia Bergeson (MSL quote) , USA
<2007-08-31 00:00>
This book is for those who work with bullies in the workplace. Although I didn't find all my answers here, I did find peace knowing I am not alone and that people deal with bullies in different ways. This book sounds arrogant by the title, but it does get you to pick it up and read. It is a practical and honest advice book and I recommend it to those who wish they could rid the workplace of bullies. Too bad bullies don't always know they are bullies and won't see themselves in this book. |
View all 8 comments |
|
|
|
|
