No Asshole Rule Round-Up: From the McKinsey Quarterly to the Commonwealth Club, to the Vatican

There
have been some interesting, and as always, diverse bits of news about The No
Asshole Rule over the last few weeks:

1.
I published an article in The McKinsey
Quarterly a few months back on “Building the Civilized Workplace,” which is based on the book. The folks at McKinsey report that it was the
most frequently downloaded article last month, as it was the month before.  You can see
the rankings at The McKinsey Quarterly
site and also link to an abstract of the article, and register to download it.   

2. The No
Asshole Rule continues to hang around on some of the best-seller lists. In
particular, the current issue of BusinessWeek
lists it as #7 among
hardcover business books.   

3.
I am giving a talk on the book at the Commonwealth Club this coming Monday
night, July 9^th. There is a
wine and cheese reception starting at 5:30 and the talk is from 6 to 7. Admission is $18 for non-members and free for
members. Click here for more
information and to register in advance.

4.
Barry Ritholtz over at The Big Picture seems have used a picture
of The No Asshole Rule cover to ward off nasty people while he
is on vacation. (Another thanks to Dave
for pointing this one out). He never actually mentions the book, but has a large
picture of the cover next to a message that warns:

I
will leave the admin work to my able and trusty assistant Ginger. That includes
dealing with spammers, asshats, and trolls. 

She
has instructions to terminate with
prejudice:

Unpublish
any impolite or off topic comments;

Delete
anything that remotely looks like spam;

Suspend
anyone starting a flame war;

Ban
all trolls and asshats;

Show
no mercy to anyone;

If
you find yourself unpublished or banned this week, well, that means you are
prime proctological material. You have offended her delicate sensibilities, and
will have to wait until I return to file an appeal.

This
use of the cover reminds me of the attorney who reported that she was going to
display the book in her office to “remind” her colleagues to be nicer to her.

5. There is a new website called www.sendahole.com. I don’t quite have the
courage to put the picture of the product on my blog (I know, I know, I am
being a hypocrite… I talk about assholes, but don’t want to put a picture on my
blog. Don’t ask me to explain, I am not that rational).

For
$7.95 (includes shipping), here is the service they provide:

Sphincter Factory^TM
A-holes are made from the finest quality rubber. They measure approximately
3/4" in diameter and are 1/4" thick, and are pliable, just like the
real thing! Each A-hole comes packaged individually and has a pithey greeting
on the back. They are mailed in plain brown envelopes using only the Sphincter
Factory’s return address. YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS ARE NOT INCLUDED!

6. My friends over at SuccessFactors wrote me that “A gentleman by the name of Eldon
Romney e-mailed SuccessFactors earlier this week looking to create his own
"No Assholes" policy for Mensa. He mentioned that he heard about them
through your book.”   Mensa is an
organization for very smart people.  According to Wikipedia, “Mensa accepts individuals who score at or above the 98^th
percentile on certain standardized IQ tests.” 

I
guess – – just like every other organization that I know –- there are some
problems with demeaning members at Mensa. Eldon is proposing a list of 12 rules that he calls “Rules of Conduct
for “Enlightened Mensans.” Here they are:

As an “Enlightened Mensan”:

1. I will exhibit my passion for
Mensa membership by showing through my behavior that I value fellow Members.

2. I will demonstrate respect for
others: I will be nice, listen to others and respect myself, acting with
integrity.

3. While engaging in Mensa
activities, I will act within legal and ethical boundaries.

4. Mensa is nothing without other
members; I will treat others as part of a valued team, acknowledging each
member’s contributions.

5. I will strive to improve myself
and learn from my mistakes and from the suggestions of others.

6. I will attempt to communicate clearly and honestly when I have something
to say. When I do not have anything to say, I will feel free to listen.

7. I will attempt to have fun and
share my enthusiasm.

8. I will not be a jerk.

9. I will not talk negatively or destructively behind someone’s back; I
will attempt to discuss issues and concepts more than people and personalities.

10. I realize I have tremendous
influence for both good and otherwise and that my actions can either help make
Mensa a wonderful experience or a dismal one. I will attempt to foster
goodness.

11. I will attempt to live by these
rules. If other Mensans fall short of these rules, I will try to speak up and help
them better themselves; in turn, I will do my best to be open to suggestions
and even criticism should I not live by these virtues.

12. I will do my best to be patient
and kind at Mensa events and elsewhere

I
find these all be fascinating, especially #10, as it makes clear how everyone
should take responsibility for how others experience the organization. This is an important element of implementing
the no asshole rule in its most effective form.

I checked
with Eldon about these rules and to make sure it was OK to talk about them here;
he replied:

Please feel free to post whatever you
would like; please also understand that while I am a member of Mensa and am the
American Mensa Ombudsman, my list of Rules is currently mine alone and holds no
official weight within Mensa (at least yet)!  Mensa as an organization holds no opinions,
but individuals and/or groups within Mensa can and do hold strong opinions. One
of my strong opinions is that your book is full of insight that Mensans need to
consider. Hopefully my presentation will help more to do just that!

7. I gave a talk in late May on “The No Jerk Rule” at
Stanford, at the Stanford Technology Venture’s weekly “Entrepreneurial Thought
Leader’s Seminar.” I was interviewed by
Stanford student and seminar organizer Mike Rothenberg and I fielded numerous
questions from the audience of about 100. You can listen to or download the seminar here.  In addition, there are many other free MP3’s of other seminars
on this website, as well as some great video that is organized into short clips. And if you are interested in attending these
seminars in person, they are held every Wednesday at 4:30 on the Stanford campus
and are open to the public. Check the STVP
website in late September to see who will be presenting this fall.

8. The Vatican released what one of my
correspondent’s described as “the no asshole rule for drivers.” According to the Associated Press, these "Ten
Commandments" for drivers, among other things,  “warned about the
effects of road rage, saying driving can bring out "primitive"
behavior in motorists, including "impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing,
blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility or deliberate infringement of the
highway code."  If you have
ever driven in Italy ,
you will know that they need some of these rules, but I am not optimistic that
they will have much effect.  Indeed, the
AP reports that these “commandments” provoked substantial cynicism among Italians.

That
is it for now; I suspect that the next couple months will be slow with so many
of us taking vacations, but I will have another update when there are enough
tidbits for another round-up.