1 Corinthians and the No Asshole Rule

Two weeks ago it was my turn to teach my adult bible class at church. We are going through 1 Corinthians and I was up to teach the famous Chapter 13: "Love is patient, love is kind..."

And I thought to myself, "Richard, what are you possibly going to say in class that hasn't been said before about 1 Corinthians 13?"

Then it hit me.

I started the class by doing a book review and reading selections from Dr. Robert Sutton's new book The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't.

Sutton is a Stanford business professor (he hosts a great blog). In 2004, Sutton proposed and wrote up the No Asshole Rule as a "Breakthrough Idea" in the annual edition on that topic for The Harvard Business Review. Basically, the No Asshole Rule states that a company would do well to become more intolerant of those mean, nasty, selfish, egomanical, rude, jerks we know as assholes in the workplace.

After publishing his idea Sutton received tons of feedback from people around the globe telling him stories of the toll assholes exact in the workplace. He also received confirmation that companies who had implemented a version of the No Asshole Rule did, in fact, experience not only a boost in their corporate culture but to their bottom line as well. All this inspired Sutton to write The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't.

I enjoyed the The No Asshole Rule because there is so much gospel in it. I was also impressed with how much of the No Asshole Rule involved issues of hierarchy, issues I've blogged about before (see here and here and here).

For example, how do you identify an asshole? Sutton proposes two tests:

Test One:
After talking to the alleged asshole, does the "target" feel oppressed, humiliated, de-energized, or belittled by the person? In particular, does the target feel worse about him or herself?

Test Two:
Does the alleged asshole aim his or her venom at people who are less powerful rather than at those people who are more powerful? (p. 9)

Test Two I find really important. As does Sutton. Later in the book he says this:

The difference between how a person treats the powerless versus the powerful is as good a measure of human character as I know. (p. 25)

The problem is that humans are easily corrupted by hierarchy. Even small power differentials can begin transforming us into assholes.

Sutton cites research by Deborah Gruenfeld who has extensively studied the ruinous toll of hierarchy on human character. In one study Sutton discusses, Gruenfeld observed groups of three undergraduates asked to discuss a controversial topic. One of the three students was randomly appointed to evaluate the recommendations of the other two (placing them in a slightly higher power role). Later in the experiment the students were brought a plate of five cookies (intentionally an odd number!). Interestingly, the "high status" students were more likely to take a second cookie, chew with their mouths open, and get crumbs on their faces and the table! As Sutton reflects (p. 72):

This silly study scares me because it shows how having just a slight power edge causes regular people to grab the cookies for themselves and act like rude pigs. Just think about the effects in thousands of interactions every year...

Basically, as Sutton summarizes later: "Power breeds nastiness." (p. 72)

Thus, one application of the No Asshole Rule is to flatten hierarchies in companies and organizations. Sutton realizes that in the business world hierarchies are a necessary evil, they are efficient and effective. However, hierarchies should be downplayed to create a transparent, approachable, and civil workplaces. This tension Sutton calls the "power-performance paradox." Quoting Sutton:

[Companies] realize that their company has and should have a pecking order, but they do everything they can do to downplay and reduce status and power differences among members. (p. 78)

To start to implement the No Asshole Rule Sutton recommends (p. 88) connecting "big policies to small decencies." Sutton sums this up in a pithy way (p. 89): "the no asshole rule is meaningless unless you treat the person right in front of you, right now, in the right way."

Finally, how do we change if we think we may be assholes?

Late in the book Sutton suggests this (p. 118): "Admitting you're an asshole is the first step." That is: "to avoid acting like or becoming a known asshole, know thyself" (p. 119). Socrates would have been proud.

All in all, the The No Asshole Rule is a great book. And as I read it I pondered all the assholes I've had the pleasure to interact with over the years. And I also wondered about how I act like an asshole from time to time. At school, at church, and at home.

So, we reflected on all this in my Sunday School class. And after reflection on the No Asshole Rule, I read these famous words:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs...

Basically, don't be an asshole.