An entire lexicon exists for naming the office jerk and that says a lot about the descriptive powers of the oppressed. It’s also testament to just how much space we make in our lives for these self-absorbed, backstabbing, confidence-crushing buffoons.
Unfortunately, the FCC would prefer that we not use some of the more colorful language that we might otherwise choose. But we are free to describe certain characteristics of this particular category of office cubicle creature. What’s worse, the experts tell us that jerks succeed. They’re more likely to get promoted so they can really tell us what to do. They live among us like foul weather, this hour we’ll talk about their fits and storms, the dark grey cloud, the jerk in the office and how he or she manage to rule our world and ruin our day.
Guests:
Robert Sutton, professor, Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University School of Engineering
Loraleigh Keashly, associate professor, Urban and Labor Studies and Psychology, Wayne State University
Gloria Elliott, organizational development consultant, Elliott and Associates
Mike Reynvaan, partner and member of the management committee, Perkins
Coie,
a Seattle-based corporate law firm