Love thy asshole

Yes, I’m resorting to obnoxious titles and scandalous posts based on the advice of certain unscrupulous individuals. Unfortunately though, the controversy ends with the title, and my life isn’t exciting enough to cover ass kissing contexts set in Islamabad.

So, I’m working out these days. Thirty minutes on the elliptical trainer and and fifteen on the rowing machine. I hear exercise is healthy, but given the flubber I see in the gym, I have my doubts. Anyway, I assure you, my exciting workout regimen is a digression and not the topic of the post. This post has to do with kissing up and kicking down, which is how Robert Sutton, Management Professor at Stanford, describes jerks, or more appropriately, assholes. If you’re wondering what that has to do with my fat burning, 10km/hour run on the treadmill, the connection is this: Everyday, I listen to a Stanford Technology Venture podcast, so I don’t feel like my time at the gym is a complete waste. No, the six pacs haven’t started showing, thank you.

So, about the No Asshole Rule. Firstly, love the title. Its simple, unexpected and concrete. The perfect ingredients for viral message. It’s the best selling book of the author, not because of groundbreaking research, not because profanity sells (it does), but because he captures in one simple title all the angst pent-up in those who work with assholes.

Sutton notes that the best thing to do, when you’re surrounded by jerks, is to leave. He reasons that you will eventually become like the people around you. So choose carefully where you work. In case you’re stuck in the organization, find ways to minimize contact with the designated jerk. Limiting communication to emails, phone calls and stand-up meetings may help.

Not surprisingly, as per real academic research, in the US the highest concentration of assholes is in the Northeast, while Southerners and Californians are typically nicer. He did say that Silicon Valley is particularly nasty because of the insane work hours, and the hyper competitive win-lose environment. The emergence of Google as a “Do no evil” company though, has put pressure on other Valley startups to enforce the No Asshole Rule.

By the way, Steve Jobs is an asshole. Hence the title.

-Adnan

Tags:

This entry was posted on March 04th, 2008 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.