An AP story just came out on nasty bosses. It was inspired by the "The Devil Wears Prada," the new Meryl Streep film (which my teenage daughter just loved). The story talks quite a bit about The No Asshole Rule, especially the chapter on "The Virtues of Assholes." But they shy away from using the A-word itself, as you would expect. The story ends with a comment from my co-author Jeff Pfeffer, who claims that nasty bosses don’t do much damage. I agree that asshole bosses do sometimes inspire hard work and prefectionism, but as much as I admire Jeff, the total cost of assholes (TCA) can be shockingly high in many cases — as I show in the book. In any event, check out Prada Movie Highlights Nasty Boss Phenom, it is good fun.
The Rule and the Devil
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2 responses to “The Rule and the Devil”
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What I like about working with Bob is that he is creative but not always accurate. What I said–and what I stand by–in the AP story is NOT that nasty bosses don’t do much damage. What I said, and what the evidence shows, is that there are amazingly few consequences for nasty bosses in many, many organizations–regardless of how many stories or e-mails get out.
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As always, Jeff is careful with the facts and puts that above all! I stand corrected. And to bolster Jeff’s point, research on bullying shows that about 30% of workers in the U.S. and the UK experience persistent psychological abuse — which means that a heck of a lot of bosses are getting away with acting like assholes out there.
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