The Onion seems to have discovered the no asshole rule and related work. I love their little article and confess that they are on target. The notion that workplace assholes do damage is stunningly obvious. But as I have written here before, the best leaders and organizations are often masters of the obvious. And as Jeff Pfeffer and I wrote in The Knowing-Doing Gap, one of the great puzzles of organizational life is why so many managers know what they and their colleagues ought to do build more effective and more civilized workplaces, but don't do it.
In any event, I love this little article and thank the Onion folks for their lovely work.
Here is the full Onion article
Study: Not Being An Asshole Boss May Boost Employee Morale
WAUKEGAN, IL—In what is being called a breakthrough discovery in worker-administrator relations, a study released Monday in the Journal Of Occupational Science
found that not being a total asshole supervisor may be linked to
improved worker spirit. "In nearly every trial, we found staff morale
runs considerably higher when bosses don't read workers' e-mail over
their shoulders, complain about their superior salaries, or act in any
way like giant, self- centered assholes," said Erica Gorochow, one of
the study's researchers. "Similarly, we found that typical dick manager
phrases like 'I don't disagree' can weaken worker disposition by as
much as 63 percent." Although the study's findings have already sent
shock waves through the business community, Gorochow warned that some
of the results may have been compromised, as the bitch lead researcher
was breathing down her neck the whole time.
P.S. Thanks to Kevin and Scott for telling me about this story.
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