The Button for the ARSE Test

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This button is the perfect companion to the ARSE test. The purpose of this self-test is to find-out if you are a certified asshole, at risk of becoming one, or a genuinely civilized person. In other words, it can help you come to grips with the fact that you are — or are fast becoming — a demeaning jerk and that it just might be time to do something about it!

To be a bit more serious, the best way to use the test is probably not just to take yourself, but to get key people in your social network to complete it about you — you boss, peers, subordinates, customers, and perhaps your wife, husband, friends, and lovers.

Comments

6 responses to “The Button for the ARSE Test”

February 5, 2007

Ally Polly

Hi Bob,
Well, you know what they say: it’s good to get all your tests done at the beginning of the year. So,
having had my teeth cleaned, my mammogram, my full physical and eye’s examined, I felt it time to have your ARSE test. Call me old fashioned, but frankly I would have been a tad more comfortable if you would have gone with calling it an Asshole Self-Test, rather than a Self-Exam, but I took it anyway.
And of course, I passed, or failed, as the case may be, by scoring a 1. So thank you. Oh, one final thing: Is the test covered by insurance?
With admiration,
Ally Polly
P.S. Would there be a way to send this test anonymously to those not yet out of the closet Assholes?

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February 5, 2007

Bob Sutton

Ally,
Thanks for the comment — I got an 11. Perhaps I better re-read my book. We are actually working on some ways to send the book anonymously — and it does have the test. But you raise an interesting question. Of course, you can always use an anonymous email of some kind and put in the URL, but that isn’t as fun. Indeed, there was one person who especially inspired the test. I am tempted to send it to him after your note!

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February 5, 2007

Frank Roche

Ah, yes, I wonder what my score will be when I have others take it about me. Now that’s a good one. This could be the ultimate in the 360-degree review questionnaire. Wow, get rid of the silly performance review systems and go with the ARSE. (The ARSE Arsenal.)

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February 6, 2007

Maureen Rogers

I took the test – who could resist – and scored a 2 (which is probably more like a 2.5). I’m wondering if there is a slight gender bias in it? For some of the questions, I found myself thinking ‘who could possibly check ‘True’ on that one?’ Or is it that the asshole profile is so aligned with power, and that women haven’t had all that much historically….
In my experience, women tend to be more passive-aggressive in the work place than men – perhaps not as demeaning to fellow workers as assholishness, but aggravating just the same.

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October 16, 2010

Froukje Matthews

Dear Bob,
I am actually not in the business of ‘running a business’ although I do run my own small Montessori preschool where I am working with parents.
I think the least effective parents are like your ‘arsehole’ bosses….
Thanks for your insights,
Froukje Matthews

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December 15, 2010

Rob Probst

Great stuff…..have you considered compiling a “Chicken Soup for the Soul” of people that work for assholes (bad bosses) and good bosses from your readers and blog followers?? I’ve got at least five stories to contribute.

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