The No Asshole Rule!

Last weekend my wife, Ann and I decided to visit our mothers four hours away.  During the trip Ann suggested we listen to a book on CD to pass the time of a long boring drive.

So the book on CD she selected for our trip was, “The No Asshole Rule, Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t” by Robert I. Sutton PhD. a Stanford University Professor. I must admit the title alone intrigued me.

Surviving Assholes!

As we listened, I couldn’t help remembering the assholes in my own career. I’m sure, anyone reading this can easily identify with dealing with these jerks. I remember one particular jerk that I had to deal with was my supervisor at a Midwest company where I just accepted a management position back in 2003.

I had only been with the company for five months when my supervisor was sure I complained to HR about my boss being a jerk. In response to this unnamed accuser, HR made my boss apologize to my entire staff of around fifty employees. I remember watching as he delivered a rambling half hearted apology. I started to feel sorry for this guy as he choked on his words of humility. I could not even imagine what was to follow and how my live would change dramatically after this untimely event.

You’re Fired!

Two months later I was escorted to the door with a small box of my personal things. I had no idea he suspected me for turning him in. I was so new to the company and had my hands full with my dysfunctional staff. I was completely unaware of any problem my boss was even having. It wasn’t until months later after my unexpected firing I discovered it was an assistant that wrote the now famous anonymous letter to HR describing my boss’s evil ways.

What exactly happen is still unexplained to this day. For example, did my boss decide to get rid of me on his own or was he conspiring with his boss to destroy my career? Did HR know who sent the letter or did it remain anonymous? At the time I was so confused I couldn’t focus on anything.

West Coast Dreamer

You see, I had just moved my family from the West Coast to the Midwest to accept this position. Part of the reason for accepting this position in the first place was to give my wife the chance to complete her graduate studies.

At the time of dismissal, my wife had just started school full time and was not working. I was out of a job and our son was also in college. No one in our family brought in any money for the next nine months. Talk about life changing events!

So what is the take away from this falsely accused experience? First of all I wasn’t directly accused of the crime I was being dismissed for. So how could I defend myself? It wasn’t until later I even knew I was suspected of sending the now famous anonymous letter. I hire an attorney to see if I had a case. Those attempts ended up going no were because the company said my dismissal was because of my performance and had no connection to any letter. I had simply fallen into an organization that attracted assholes from the top down.

If you are interested in reading “The No Asshole Rule,” here is a link from Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Asshole-Rule-Civilized-Workplace-Surviving/dp/0446526568 or try your local library.

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