Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
I love this book, because while work is about trying to make a context in which everybody can thrive, and continuously building up trust, you also have to dismantle distrust. You have to do the two things at the same time. There’s always going to be distrust, there’s always going to be jerks. So how are you going to deal with them? The book is written by a Stanford professor, and he really puts it out there and hits you on the chin by calling it The No Asshole Rule. The book is a very quick read – you can read it in a couple of hours – and it really made me laugh.
What about your last book, The No Asshole Rule?
I love this book, because while work is about trying to make a context in which everybody can thrive, and continuously building up trust, you also have to dismantle distrust. You have to do the two things at the same time, in my view. You walk into any school and if they say, ‘We don’t have any bullies,’ my thought is you’re just not looking hard enough. There’s always going to be distrust, there’s always going to be jerks. And there’s always going to be bullies around at work. So how are you going to deal with them? You have to build happiness and dismantle unhappiness at the same time. The book is written by a Stanford professor, but what I like about it is that he really puts it out there, and hits you on the chin, by calling it The No Asshole rule. And he also lays himself open and gives lots of personal examples, which show how he can be one and the rest of us all have the capacity to be one. He refers to keeping your ‘inner asshole in check’. The book is a very quick read – you can read it in a couple of hours – and it really made me laugh.
While making serious points?
Absolutely. For example, I’m not sure that I agree with him that emotional detachment is the best way to survive at work. But I totally agree when he says that passion is an overrated virtue in the workplace. You get some bloke telling you, ‘I’m passionate about female sanitary protection.’ What are you telling me? ‘I’m passionate about data analysis.’ If that’s all you’ve got to be passionate about, please do get a life. So I do agree with this, because it also allows people to go too far. I’m passionate about this, means I can be rude to you, because I’m passionate. He also gives the two sides and argues that sometimes you do need to release your inner jerk, your inner asshole.
How do you that?
You wind up shouting at someone. It’s not a clever way of being, because it winds you up and there’s an emotional cost to that. But I think, sadly, there’s quite a lot of that about, especially post-recession. People feel traumatised. I had it today, actually. I was in a restaurant and ordered some takeaway food. I wanted to sit down, but the server told me, ‘No you can’t, it’s not company policy.’
I said, ‘Hang on, there’s one person in here, other than me – it’s 2.30 in the afternoon. What is the problem? I am offering to pay the difference! And I’ll be out of here in ten minutes.’ It’s just insane. I think when someone says ‘it’s not company policy’ that might be a time to release your inner jerk.
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Jessica Pryce-Jones lectures and teaches senior executives at London Business School, Chicago Booth, Oxford (Saïd) and Judge Business Schools. She also coaches senior executives and leadership teams. Her career started at Rothschild’s Bank in Paris and she then spent seven years in the insurance market before starting working as a consultant. Jessica has degrees in Classics (Latin and Greek) and Psychology. She works all over the world but is based in Oxford, UK. She is CEO of iOpener, a human asset management consultancy, the world’s leading expert in raising productivity through the science of happiness at work. Her new book, Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital For Success, outlines iOpener’s approach in a practical and easy-to-read way.
