How would you define a workplace bully, or a “difficult person”? Insights from Robert Sutton’s book, “The no asshole rule”

Read a fascinating book recently:  “The no asshole rule: building a civilised workplace and surviving one that isn’t.” by Robert Sutton.

Conflict in the workplace is a common topic, but what I particularly liked is Sutton’s exploration of individuals who cause conflict, and just exactly what they do to undermine performance.

Now apologies for those of you with sensitivities to language. Sutton himself explains how he, when asked by Harvard Business Review, to write about “mean-spirited people” in the workplace, felt using the AH terminology would be unacceptable, and yet using words such as “jerk” or “bully” or “difficult people” wouldn’t  have the same emotional resonance  for readers.

To his surprise, HBR not only published  his article using the word, he receive a deluge of responses from  readers, many of which told stories of real experiences with workplace bullies, tyrants and mean spirited people .

Many of these “difficult people” were in management or supervisory positions.

I know many of you are really busy – so I’ll distill a few of the key insights I got from reading the book over the next few blog posts.

Insight 1: AH’s are individuals who consistently demean and damage others, especially those with relatively little power.

Sutton describes what he calls the “dirty dozen” of actions that AH’s use.I’d like to share these here, because I am sure these will resonate with many of us.

1. Personal insults
2. Invading one’s personal territory
3. Uninvited physical contact
4. Threats and intimidation, both verbal and non-verbal
5. Sarcastic jokes and “teasing” used as insult delivery systems
6. Withering e-mail flames
7. Status slaps, intended to humiliate their victims
8. Public shaming or “status degradation” rituals
9. Rude interruptions
10. Two-faced attacks
11. Dirty looks
12. Treating people as if they are invisible

What interests me particularly is what such behaviour does to performance. What also interests me is asking if such behaviours are part of your own team or organisation, what you can do to reduce or even minimise the damage this can cause?

Sutton’s book explores this with rigorous attention to research as well as practical ideas.

Is this an issue in your organisation?

If it is, then I recommend you grab a copy of this easy to read book.  For those of you with little time, over the next few blog posts, I’ll share a few small gems and insights I gained myself from reading this. And if you have any stories on the topic, particularly if you managed to survive an AH, or change the culture, please do share them.

And in the next post I’ll share with you why Sutton believes whilst we want to eradicate AH’s, we don’t want to replace them with wimps either!

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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:

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