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In his long-awaited follow-up to The No Asshole Rule, Robert Sutton reveals the actions of the best bosses and contrasts these with the mistakes of the worst, so that you can learn to become the great boss most people dream of having.The stark differences between what superb and lousy bosses do is b... More

From the New York Times bestselling author of The No Asshole Rule'I am frequently asked, "Tom, my brother/sister/friend is taking on a new leadership role. What should they read?" I always respond the same way, by recommending one and only one book: Bob Sutton's Good Boss, Bad Boss' - Tom Peters, Ne... More

The Singapore Ministry of Manpower convened a Third Executive Roundtable in 2010 to examine the various challenges confronting leadership renewal in the Asian business context, especially in the aftermath of the global financial meltdown and economic downturn of 2009. The intensive session, spread t... More

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How to avoid, outwit, and disarm assholes, from the author of the classic bestseller The No Asshole Rule “Help, I’m dealing with an asshole! What can I do?” Since his book The No Asshole Rule became a national bestseller a decade ago, Robert Sutton has heard that question asked in a thousand di... More

If you are a boss who wants to do great work, what can you do about it? Good Boss, Bad Boss is devoted to answering that question. Stanford Professor Robert Sutton weaves together the best psychological and management research with compelling stories and cases to reveal the mindset and moves of th... More

When the Harvard Business Review asked Robert Sutton for suggestions for its annual list of Breakthrough Ideas, he told them that the best business practice he knew of was 'the no asshole rule'. Sutton's piece became one of the most popular articles ever to appear in the HBR. Spurred on by the fear ... More

Creativity, new ideas, innovation -- in any age they are keys to success, but in today's whirlwind economy they are essential for survival itself. Yet, as Robert Sutton explains, the standard rules of business behavior and management are precisely the opposite of what it takes to build an innovativ... More

This chapter outlines the many facets of the knowing-doing problem--the challenge of turning knowledge about how to enhance organizational performance into actions consistent with that knowledge--and points toward possible solutions based on the successes of some organizations.... More

Many organizations and managers would rather talk, conceptualize, and rationalize about problems and issues than confront them directly. This chapter considers how talk often substitutes for action and, in the process, impedes many companies from turning what they know about enhancing performance in... More

Organizations that fail to implement performance knowledge often rely on precedent, doing what has always been done without reflection. In this chapter, the authors show how a strong organizational memory can both produce and undermine performance.... More

According to the authors, fear is an enemy of the ability to question the past or break free from precedent. In this chapter, they show how fear and distrust of management remain problems in many workplaces today, undermining organizational performance and, more specifically, the ability to turn kno... More

Poorly designed performance measurement systems are among the biggest barriers to turning knowledge into action. This chapter examines the reasons why organizations persist in using flawed measurement practices and presents some general principles to help organizations distinguish measurements that ... More

Although the creation of internal competition is a common management practice, zero-sum contests that produce winners and losers undermine the overall ability of companies to turn knowledge into action. This chapter examines why this approach to management remains so pervasive and illustrates how so... More

This chapter provides detailed case studies of three firms--British Petroleum, Barclays Global Investors, and the New Zealand Post--that have been successful at either avoiding the knowing-doing gap or transcending barriers to turning knowledge into action.... More

This chapter summarizes the many sources of the knowing-doing gap and some ways of addressing it.... More

Organizations should work to identify the gaps in what leaders know, and what is actually going on in the company can provide an agenda for action. This chapter is a tutorial in asking managers the right questions to identify and tackle knowing-doing gaps.... More

Across industries, failure to find and follow the best logic and evidence leads to relying on conventional wisdom that is frequently incorrect or incomplete, and therefore, potentially hazardous to organizational health. This chapter introduces the ideas behind evidence-based management, and shows h... More

This chapter illustrates how and why so many of the current standards for judging business ideas and management practices are flawed and offers some alternative ways of approaching the marketplace for ideas that are more consistent with the fundamentals of logical reasoning and the scientific method... More

This chapter examines what is perhaps the most basic half-truth--that work is a separate domain from the rest of life, and should be treated differently--and provides some evidence-based insights to support greater incorporation of human needs and preferences into work and organization design.... More

This chapter examines one of the most deeply held half-truths in the business world, that financial incentives drive company performance, and tackles several deeply held, widely shared, and intertwined beliefs and assumptions about what motivates people in the workplace.... More

This chapter questions whether and when strategy is destiny and makes an evidence-based case that excessive faith in strategic decision making is hazardous to an organization's health.... More

This chapter examines the faulty evidence and logic behind the mantra "change or die," the related half-truth that change is difficult and takes a long time, and describes what organizations can do to speed change.... More

This chapter explores the half-truth that leaders are in control and that they ought to be, provides a more nuanced view of leadership, and offers some useful guidelines for those who occupy leadership roles in organizations.... More