"Nothing Strengthens Authority as Much as Silence"

This Leonardo da Vinci quote came in a comment in the discussion around New Research on Bad Apples is generally wonderful -- thanks so much to Kent, Rob, Lilly, Frank, Peter, Wally, and Randy. I especially wanted to thank the person who sent this quote, as it gets at one of the main reasons that the the pro-asshole rather than the no asshole rule flourishes: people pretend that they don't see or become blind to the abuse that is happening right in front of them.   This quote appears at the top of the enlightening -- and frightening -- blog contributes on Bullying of Academics in Higher Education -- unfortunately, as this blog shows so convincingly, academia can be a nasty place. I would add it isn't always that way, and in fact, I've been a member of a group at Stanford that used the no asshole rule and I know of one very successful lab director who actively enforced the "no jerk rule" in the Stanford Engineering School -- but as in any organization, things can turn ugly in academia.

Comments

[Lilly Evans]

It is quite sobering to see that people have to protect themselves behind pseudonyms when writing on this topic. And, I am even more shocked that the above website seems to be primarily British.

I wonder how much has the situation got worse since various University Assessment measures have become linked with the sums of money given to specific universities in England.

Perhaps there is a link here with evidence-based management? I mean, unintended side effects happen!

[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]

"...the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated..."

Mark Twain: published in the New York Journal
-----------------------------

We have started an online group/forum on Yahoo, at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bullied_academics/

The purpose of this online forum is to provide practical and emotional support to all targets of workplace bullying in Higher Education, and to share our experiences and advice for the benefit of all.

Membership is open to all but ideally we are inviting academics, teachers, educators, and researchers to join this group. This Yahoo group is new, and as such it may take time to evolve into something more significant and/or dynamic. We believe there is a need for a dedicated forum so that the experiences of academics, teachers, researchers etc, are shared, and hopefully are combined towards productive actions and campaigns. Please join us.

Details on how to join this online group are available at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bullied_academics/

[Wally Bock]

There's a supervisor's corollary to "Nothing strengthens authority as much as silence." It is "You support what you allow."

[nraynaud]

This is not idiotic at all, nobody can ask you to know a not-so-famous people from a foreign country (in France most of us know Proudhon only because of street's or place's names).

Moreover, the blog you referenced is written under pseudonym for reasons I think are obvious. You simply missed the fact.

[Bob Sutton]

Hi,

OK! So that is what I get for not checking my facts. Thank you for telling me and keeping my idiocy at least short lived!

[nraynaud]

I'm sad to annouce you that Pierre-Joseph Proudhon has been dead for more than 100 years now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon

The good news is that there are 2 excellent pubs, one great restaurant and the central post office in Proudhon street in Besançon :)