Bob Sutton, please turn around.
Standford Business School’s Bob Sutton and I had an interesting conversation about assholes today.
He (literally) wrote the book that is changing the world’s bad idea that it’s okay to be a jerk in the workplace, so long as you get things done. But Sutton seems equally interested, at times, in his ongoing crusade on behalf of the word “asshole” itself.
He’s very fond of it, and doesn’t seem to have any use for a thesaurus.
I love the guy. But he didn’t get my point that the concept is more important than the word — and that sometimes words themselves are assaultive (he, of all people, should know this.) This particular word not only further offends those who may deserve it, but might also offend people who want to talk about healthy workplaces without always using words like “asshole” when they do.
Which might make the person who keeps insisting on the word, himself, an asshole — right?
