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Last week I gave a talk on my campus about positive psychology in the workplace. I was pleased with how it went, although the questions were difficult. I am better at being conceptual than being practical, and some of those in attendance--staff members from different units--wanted to know what to do about those in their midst who were relentlessly negative, pessimistic, and mean. Read More
depends on the workplace
no a**holes policy may work at Google, a company of forward-thinkers and iconoclasts or Ben and Jerry's, but perhaps not at a place like Morgan Stanley or Saloman Bros.
A good point, but I am not
A good point, but I am not sure they are simple assholes. They seem to be pathological - that is, see other people are robots who are in their way, or not, as the case may be. Treating other people as things seems to be a survival trait in Wall Street.
It also explains how they managed to spend $700b in bailout money.
what is the tolerance for asshole behavior?
Staid company or a more forward thinking organization can have jerks. It all depends on the organization's tolerance level and ability to manage such behavior. I often hear, "we're nice around here and we don't like confrontation." That's just an excuse for, we're going to allow jerk like behavior to continue and not get involved. Unfortunately this makes a not so nice place to work for A and B players and up and coming developing talent. When bad behavior goes unchecked it essentially says, "we don't care if you're being abused on a daily basis". It has nothing to do with a "we're a nice place to work". It's just the opposite. I once worked in a nonprofit doing altruistic work in developing countries. One would think it was a nice warm fuzzy place to work. It was one of the most brutal environments and the culture was driven from a few of the finance folks who were known jerks but were allowed to behave badly and make life miserable for all.
interesting ...
Hello Tess - If I can unpack your question, you seem to be saying that certain types of businesses are well-served by mean-spirited employees. That's an empirical question, and I do not know of any evidence that supports this claim. I could be wrong. Regardless, in the present economic crisis, I think that any and all businesses involved in banking and investments should rethink--drastically--how they do things. - Chris Peterson*
*Good thing I like my job, because my retirement fund has gone down the toilet in the last month.
Corporate Psychopaths: Empirical evidence
I wonder what questions were raised about corporate psychopaths, as they do exist, with their traits of remorselessness, charm and manipulation.
These are people who are hired by managers at the top level because of their brimming confidence, and they're often well protected despite their 'asshole' status.
I've certainly seen some statistics, and surely don't doubt the existence of empirical evidence indicating that the number of psychopaths rises as you climb the corporate ladder.
That is, there's a significant difference between the number of psychopaths on the frontline as compared to top level management. If anything, this is worrying and likely to make a lot of workers' lives miserable unless selection criteria and screening is improved.
psychopaths in the workplace?
Sutton, in his book, does not out too much emphasis on traits and none at all on psychiatric diagnoses. He emphasizes how the situation can encourage or discourage bad behavior. Obviously, the person and the situation both matter, but as an occasional clinical psychologist, I am wary of glibly diagnosing people, especially from a distance. "Psychopath" (antisocial personality disorder) has a very specific meaning that goes far beyond misbehaving in the workplace. The prevalence rates for workplace bullying far exceed those for anti-social personality disorder, which on the face of it support what I am saying. Psychopaths are more likely to be found in prisons than in executive suites. (I know, I know, I know: people can and do move from an executive suite to a prison.)
Dr. Peterson, Thank you for
Dr. Peterson,
Thank you for the post. I was wondering if you had any insight about sexually harassment as a specific type of workplace "asshole" or if you have any recommendations for women who are dealing with asshole sexual harrasment.
I recently left academia, which you probably already know is filled with difficult types. The only "asshole" I had a very difficult time with was the one who used sexual taunting at work (calling me a "streetwalker" bragging to the other senior professors in front of my face that he could make me do sexual acts with him). He never actually tried to have sex with me. It seemed as it was more about re-establishing a power dynamic to remind me that he was a full professor and I was lowly adjunct. I made a complaint, left my job, but still recovering from this workplace dynamic.
Dear Natalie - Sutton's book
bad apples; can one bad apple spoile a workplace?
There always seems to be a certain level of tolerance for the smart and competent employee who exhibits bad behavior.
The higher ups in our organizations justify it by saying things like,
-Well, the work is getting done, look numbers have never been higher
-Jim's technical skills are so valuable we can't afford to lose him
-All of those problems in manufacturing with returned orders have been fixed
-It's easier to keep her than to find a replacement
-That's just how Sue is
-She doesn't mean any harm, she's just under a lot of stress
-Stop whining about Sue, focus on your work
etc.
Well, sorry folks but there's evidence that bad apple employees can make the team 35 - 40% less effective. This flys in the face of most evidence collected over the decades which says that a good strong team can dilute a disruptive employee. Read more at http://www.employeeperformancesolutions.com/managing-employee-performanc... I've created a link to This American Life's Ruining it For the Rest of Us Interview with Will Phelps, Organizational Behavior Professor at the Rotterdam School of Business who identified three types of bad apples: The Jerk, The Depressive Pessimist and The Slacker. It's well worth a listen!
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