The No Asshole Rule in One Company: A Simple Decision-Tree

I recently posted an updated version  of People and Places that Use The No Asshole Rule.  In that spirit, a group of students in my class Organizational Behavior: An Evidence-Based Approach did a little case study of how a local start-up (with about 150 people now) is sustaining a civilized workplace.  I liked this simple decision-tree as it captures much of the essence of how to enforce the rule -- assuming they actually use this rather than just talk about it!

Comments

[Joe Posner]

Since people tend to overrate their own competence wouldn't having this policy result in most people acting like assholes on the assumption that they are a superstar who will be given time to correct their ways?

[Lary Kirchenbauer]

Bob - thanks for the short but sweet diagram. I think it can be used very effectively for a number of other character types, which I've described in my recent article about How to Keep Smart People from Killing Each Other. http://tiny.cc/p0zkl

[Petar]

And what if certified jerk is in higher managerial ranks who delivers the results to his bosses, and mistreat the people under him, in lower ranks? Who should fire that jerk? And what people beneath him can do in that position, except trying to avoid him, please him, and some other non-productive things?

[Ellie]

Fine, I suppose, but it seems a little unfair that the ordinary Joe doesn't get the chance to change as well. After all, the average folk just doing their jobs are tremendously important to a company and I feel everyone should get one strike.

It's fair, I suppose, that whether you are a superstar or not should govern how high you climb or the size or your bonus, but it seems somewhat irrelevant to a persons capacity for change. As long as they aren't actually incompetent (in which case that should be the reason for firing them, not their personality) rehiring and retraining is always going to be more costly than giving someone a 30 day plan and a chance.