Mind Your Decisions

Book Reaction to “The No Asshole Rule”

I’ve always felt being friendly gives results than being a jerk. On that note, I enjoyed reading Robert Sutton’s book The No Asshole Rule, which argues that businesses can be more successful if they avoid hiring assholes.

Sutton defines assholes in the first chapter as people who (1) make a target feel worse, and (2) are usually in a higher authority position than the target. He says we are all assholes on occasion, but it is the repeat offender (or “flaming asshole”) that is of most concern.

The stories alone make the book a great read. Consider this reality TV example about how assholes usually target people in lower authority:

A test reflecting the same spirit was used by Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire, to screen candidates for a reality television series where he selected “billionaires in the rough.” … During the first episode, Branson picked up contestants at the airport while he was disguised as an arthritic old driver—then he kicked two of them off the show for treating him so badly when they believed he was an “irrelevant” human being.”

The second chapter argues every company should have a rule against jerks because they are usually expensive employees. In one story, a company estimated that a particular worker was costing the company $160,000 per year by wasting other peoples’ time and incurring fees from anger management courses. Sutton also provides a way to calculate TCA—Total Costs of Assholes to your company.

The third and fourth chapters are about implementing a “no asshole rule.” The third chapter discusses how to do so in a corporate environment and the fourth about how to prevent yourself from being a jerk. One point that really caught me was that negative interactions have a five times larger impact on mood than positive ones. This means a single jerk can ruin the mood for a whole group.

The statistic reminded me about a time when I went to a restaurant with four friends. The food and wine were great, but we all ended up having a terrible time because one person complained throughout the entire meal. I wish I would have read chapter five—tips to survive assholes—before this going to this meal.

The sixth and final chapter discusses the virtues of assholes. The author was cautious about writing this part, but admits that in isolated cases, getting angry is the only way to get attention, and some people seem to thrive because they are an asshole (the example of Steve Jobs is discussed).

Overall take: The No Asshole Rule is an informative and entertaining read both for its stories and statistics.