The No Asshole Rule Summary

Introduction:
“The No Asshole Rule” by Robert Sutton effectively illustrates the multitude of detrimental effects abusive staff members can have on fellow employees. Sutton discusses in detail how to identify both certified and temporary assholes, how to deal with and reform these assholes, and how to keep from becoming an asshole oneself, supplemented with anecdotal examples and studies that reinforce his opinion that the removal of these types of destructive people will maximize workplace productivity and relieve the workplace of asshole poisoning. For employees that cannot leave their current job situation, he offers advice on how to survive these kind of people and how to negate their damaging influence. By primarily focusing on how
Numerous studies have shown that a nasty boss or coworker who purposefully demeans and belittles colleagues or individuals of lower status in the organizational structure than themselves affects both the person being bullied, the witnesses of the bullying, and the actual bully themselves. This type of bullying behaviour causes increases in absenteeism, workplace theft, psychological damage, and increased employee turnover and active disengagement, all of which management would deem undesirable. According to Pearson and Porath (2005, p.7) “one study of 800 employees in the United States reported that 10 percent said they witnessed incivility daily within their workplaces, and 20 percent said that they personally were targets of incivility in the workplace at least once a week .” While Sutton constantly refers to an example in his book of how nurses are treated and their related satisfaction and job performance, his theories are reinforced by findings by the Kaiser-Permanente medical group in Colorado, which has enforced a zero tolerance policy for verbal abuse of its’ nurses. This policy was adopted after research on the nursing shortage revealed information that the constant verbal criticisms and abuse of doctors and supervisors had led to nurses voluntarily leaving their occupations in pursuit of a more satisfactory career choice or
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