Tuesday
Apr082008
Escape from @$&hole Island!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 6:31PM By Leslie Phillips, 14, April, 2008
The alarm goes off. The light switches on. That familiar pain in your back or your head starts to throb. It's anyone of your regular Monday through Friday mornings and you're dreading going into work. Not because you're behind on your work. Not because you're tired. And not because your true passion is to be an actor, an athlete or any other dream job.
It's because of the @$&hole(s) with whom you work. There may only be one. There may be more. You might even have one for a boss. The bottom-line is that you're locked in a horrible cycle and you don't know how to get out . . .But today you're going to get a key.
It's called the "No @$&hole Rule". Please see "The No @$&hole Rule" by Robert I. Sutton for a full tretise. But before we get into the rule let's make a business case for it. Why is that? To prove that it costs you money.
Why do @$&holes even matter? What wrong with a little bit of stress and conflict? It's good for the soul. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger - Right?
Examples are:
1. Office gossip
2. Silent treatment
3. Yelling and name-calling
4. Dismissing questions or failing to give all necessary information
5. Rude, condescending, abrupt, etc. statements
6. Copycatting - My friend doesn't like you so I can't
Bull$#!%. We're not talking about having trouble meeting timelines, or calling out someone's mistakes. We're not talking about a avoiding arguments or demanding friendliness. We're talking professional respect. Gossip, negativity and hostility in the workplace hinders mood, therefore productivity, and therefore your bottom-line. Even if you're just starting - it hinders your progress.
And one more reason . . . Even though our current unemployment rate of over 5% is the highest it's been since 2005, don't think that you'll retain employees, contacts or contracts when someone else can do what you do with a better attitude. It's just easier.
But, hey wait a minute; this seems standard Fortune 500 Human Resources. Why is a blog that speaks about innovation and progress even discussing this topic? Because too many companies haven't gotten it right and because a lot of new companies - creative, progressive, innovative, challenging and industry-changing companies - will do better in the long run if they incorporate the rule from the start.
Gordon Noble of Australia's Business Spectator wrote, "This week, former Perpetual general manager Fiona Dunn has lodged a $1.2 million claim with the Federal Court alleging she was bullied by the company while pregnant and on maternity leave.
Southwest Airlines, one of the few - ehh - let me say that again. One of the few profitable American airlines has been repeatedly reported to hire and fire people based on attitude. Three American airlines have folded in the last week - Aloha, ATA and Skybus.
A quote from the May 2007 edition of McKinsey Quarterly tells the story of a Silicon Valley company, where managers "calculated the extra costs generated by a star salesperson—the assistants he burned through, the overtime costs, the legal costs, his anger-management training, and so on —and found that the extra cost of this one jerk for one year was $160,000. " That's not including the psychological cost to everyone involved.
One of the most common reasons for employee turnover is having a bad boss. (Google it)
How did the jerk-boss or co-worker get there anyway? One, as yet no one has properly checked him or her on his or her behavior. And two most companies divorce quantitative performance evaluations from qualitative work-environment evaluations. And if you're thinking about Apple and Steve Job's notorious attitudinal outbursts just let me know the next time you produce that kind of genius and we'll talk. Consider how phenomenal Apple is now. Then imagine what awesomely intellectual things Apple could do if the staff 'loved' their boss as much as the name recognition that comes with working for a company at the height of 'computer cool'.
A bad attitude, office gossip, a hostile and rude work environment, unhappy employees, unhappy partners, unhappy anything negatively impacts creativity and efficiency.
Institute a 'No @$&hole Rule.' Creative, progressive, innovative, challenging and industry-changing companies know that quantity and quality must stay married to produce a whole and healthy product or service.; to engender loyalty and longevity; to enter the newer realm of lifestyle companies you have to think about the 'whole.'
That's Whole Foods, the place where you knowingly pay more, because the company caters to the 'whole' you. That's Google, the place where low-ranking employees have made millions, where they sleep, shower and eat at work not because they have to, but because they can. That's Ideo, the famed innovation and design consultancy that had 'more than a little bit' to do with helping Apple out on a few projects.
So, what's the crux of the issue? You're 'on the verge' that Threshold speaks of from a business perspective . . . Invest in the people perspective. That will push your 'whole career, your 'whole' company into a 'whole' new frontier.
It's because of the @$&hole(s) with whom you work. There may only be one. There may be more. You might even have one for a boss. The bottom-line is that you're locked in a horrible cycle and you don't know how to get out . . .But today you're going to get a key.
It's called the "No @$&hole Rule". Please see "The No @$&hole Rule" by Robert I. Sutton for a full tretise. But before we get into the rule let's make a business case for it. Why is that? To prove that it costs you money.
Why do @$&holes even matter? What wrong with a little bit of stress and conflict? It's good for the soul. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger - Right?
Examples are:
1. Office gossip
2. Silent treatment
3. Yelling and name-calling
4. Dismissing questions or failing to give all necessary information
5. Rude, condescending, abrupt, etc. statements
6. Copycatting - My friend doesn't like you so I can't
Bull$#!%. We're not talking about having trouble meeting timelines, or calling out someone's mistakes. We're not talking about a avoiding arguments or demanding friendliness. We're talking professional respect. Gossip, negativity and hostility in the workplace hinders mood, therefore productivity, and therefore your bottom-line. Even if you're just starting - it hinders your progress.
And one more reason . . . Even though our current unemployment rate of over 5% is the highest it's been since 2005, don't think that you'll retain employees, contacts or contracts when someone else can do what you do with a better attitude. It's just easier.
But, hey wait a minute; this seems standard Fortune 500 Human Resources. Why is a blog that speaks about innovation and progress even discussing this topic? Because too many companies haven't gotten it right and because a lot of new companies - creative, progressive, innovative, challenging and industry-changing companies - will do better in the long run if they incorporate the rule from the start.
Gordon Noble of Australia's Business Spectator wrote, "This week, former Perpetual general manager Fiona Dunn has lodged a $1.2 million claim with the Federal Court alleging she was bullied by the company while pregnant and on maternity leave.
Southwest Airlines, one of the few - ehh - let me say that again. One of the few profitable American airlines has been repeatedly reported to hire and fire people based on attitude. Three American airlines have folded in the last week - Aloha, ATA and Skybus.
A quote from the May 2007 edition of McKinsey Quarterly tells the story of a Silicon Valley company, where managers "calculated the extra costs generated by a star salesperson—the assistants he burned through, the overtime costs, the legal costs, his anger-management training, and so on —and found that the extra cost of this one jerk for one year was $160,000. " That's not including the psychological cost to everyone involved.
One of the most common reasons for employee turnover is having a bad boss. (Google it)
How did the jerk-boss or co-worker get there anyway? One, as yet no one has properly checked him or her on his or her behavior. And two most companies divorce quantitative performance evaluations from qualitative work-environment evaluations. And if you're thinking about Apple and Steve Job's notorious attitudinal outbursts just let me know the next time you produce that kind of genius and we'll talk. Consider how phenomenal Apple is now. Then imagine what awesomely intellectual things Apple could do if the staff 'loved' their boss as much as the name recognition that comes with working for a company at the height of 'computer cool'.
A bad attitude, office gossip, a hostile and rude work environment, unhappy employees, unhappy partners, unhappy anything negatively impacts creativity and efficiency.
Institute a 'No @$&hole Rule.' Creative, progressive, innovative, challenging and industry-changing companies know that quantity and quality must stay married to produce a whole and healthy product or service.; to engender loyalty and longevity; to enter the newer realm of lifestyle companies you have to think about the 'whole.'
That's Whole Foods, the place where you knowingly pay more, because the company caters to the 'whole' you. That's Google, the place where low-ranking employees have made millions, where they sleep, shower and eat at work not because they have to, but because they can. That's Ideo, the famed innovation and design consultancy that had 'more than a little bit' to do with helping Apple out on a few projects.
So, what's the crux of the issue? You're 'on the verge' that Threshold speaks of from a business perspective . . . Invest in the people perspective. That will push your 'whole career, your 'whole' company into a 'whole' new frontier.
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