The No Asshole Rule just came out in Danish. They call it Nul røvhuller-reglen. And here and here are a couple links out their for those who read Danish . IN fact, I would love to here from a Dane about how you would translate the title and about whether their are issues with The No Asshole Rule in Danish organizations -- I suspect there are, in part, because I have been getting a smattering of emails from Danish victims in the last couple weeks,including one fellow who wrote me this sad note:
I've been bullyed by a co-worker; the chief of staff didn`t do anything. My heart and body is damaged, and I`m in bad shape and left hurting and she`s still at work, hurting others. I`m in a group of people, who all have had the "pleasure" to meet a a*shole.. We`re helping each other, but need research, help and money to continiue helping all these sweet but broken and hurting men and women.
That phrase "sweet but broken and hurting men and women" is touching and heartbreaking. I also take this is a sign that no matter how great a culture or country, there are always assholes. Even in Denmark, which some research shows has the happiest people in the world.
I would have to say that I have never had an asshole for a boss, which pleases me! That's despite me having worked for two of the 20 biggest Danish companies where you might think they'd be very focused on making a ton of money while forgetting to focus on employee engagement etc, this has, however never been the case for me.
Just to emphasize; I currently work as a student assistant at Danisco headquarters in Copenhagen and here there are absolutely no assholes here!
I'm happy that your book has come out in Danish, however I will surely buy it in English
Posted by: René Laursen | January 23, 2009 at 02:20 PM
The Danish title translates into "The Zero Assholes Rule". I am soon graduating from the University of Copenhagen with a Master's in Psychology, and I just have to say that I was very inspired by your book, which I came across on a trip to Rome almost a year ago. I actually wrote a paper about employee meaningfulness and how nasty bosses destroy their employees' sense of purpose through especially narcissistic behavior, where I drew on your book as well as the works of Weick and Maccoby. I think it's great that the book is out in Danish now - I hope it sells well!
Posted by: Anja | January 23, 2009 at 02:54 AM
Have you seen the Wired Magazine article from December 2001, "The Geek Syndrome"? URL below
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html
The article may provide a genetic explanation for the high concentration of assholes (with Asperger's Syndrome) in Silicon Valley.
Posted by: beaurichly | January 22, 2009 at 05:29 PM