Enforcing the "No Jerk Rule"

Bob Sutton, author of "The No Asshole Rule:  Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't" was interviewed on NPR yesterday talking about how to deal with disruptive employees'. 

I've always admired (and worked for) firms that enforce the 'no jerk rule'.  Sutton, on NPR, tells of a firm that hired a professional that brought in $500,000 in revenue, but because of his bad behavior, cost the firm $200,000 a year in replacing secretaries twice a year, executive coaching and anger management counseling.  Jerks don't pay, with one exception, Sutton mentions in a video essay on www.50lessons.com.  Keeping a tolerable jerk around can show the other people on the team/company exactly what bad behavior is and what the consequences are for misbehaving. 

In my opinion, enforcing the "No Jerk Rule" is one of the most productive tasks a leader has in a law firm.  Sutton comments about one firm that failed to enfoce the rule.  I'll let you read the post, and the linked story, but he summarizes with,

"This is the kind of thing that gives lawyers the reputation for being assholes, especially males. I will refrain from a summary: You have to read it yourself.  By the way, a few years before this incident, the firm was bragging about their "no jerk rule."  I guess they were using talk as a substituite -- or perhaps a smokescreen -- for action"

Sutton gives three suggestions for how to deal with a jerk:

1.  Use the opportunity to change or re frame firm norms and mores to exclude jerk-like behavior, then attempt to make the jerk behave better under the re-defined rules.

  2.  Fire them.

  3.  Learn to ignore them, and get on with your life.

There has to be more options than that, so follow Bob's blog called Work Matters.  It's new, and talks a lot about weird ideas that work, and more on jerks (although, he uses another phrase.)

Comments

[Stephanie West Allen]

I thought the Management Metric for what you euphemistically call "jerks" was both clever and helpful. It's here:

http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/08/marges_asshole_.html

A scoring system of 0 to 3 for the degree of jerk behavior a person is exhibiting! Bravo to the person who thought that metric up.

[Clark M.]

A really good book on the subject of poor corporate leadership and "jerks" in high places was written by Jerry Alexander' "160 Degrees of Deviation: The Case for the Corporate Cynic." Alexander is a real maverick and heretic when it comes to how to handle theses miscreants in business. It's a must read.