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Bob Sutton: Rule #1 - Don’t Be An Asshole

Jan 20, 2025

Guest

Bob Sutton

Bob Sutton, a Stanford Business School professor and bestselling author, shares his insights on cultivating positive work environments while avoiding toxic behaviors. He recounts his unique journey from a pizza shop to academia, emphasizing the impact of personal relationships and randomness in his career. Sutton discusses the importance of evidence-based management and the effects of leadership styles on employee morale. He also highlights the founding of Stanford's D School, where creativity thrives within constraints, and the vital role of humility in academic success.

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INSIGHT

Leadership as Light Bulbs

Leadership explains a modest percentage of organizational performance yet matters enormously.
Leaders can be like light bulbs: most work well, but broken ones must be replaced to avoid harm.

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ANECDOTE

Pizza Shop Management Lessons

Bob Sutton started as a pizza delivery boy and rose to night manager while often being stoned at work.
He learned valuable management lessons from both good and bad managers in that high-energy pizza shop environment.

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ADVICE

Re-energize Staff with Respect

To re-energize staff, first be competent and respectful, understanding both the work and people.
Slow down and listen before making changes, whether in a bar or a large corporation.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Exploring Evidence-Based Management and Leadership Dynamics

02:13 • 5min

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Lessons from Pizza to Leadership

07:18 • 8min

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From Stoner to Scholar: The Role of Randomness in Life Paths

15:22 • 2min

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Creativity Within Constraints

17:51 • 21min

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The Power of Humility in Academia

39:11 • 5min

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#156

• Mentioned in 82 episodes

Creativity, Inc.

Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

Amy Wallace

Ed Catmull

Ed Catmull and Edwin E. Catmull and Amy Wallace

In this book, Ed Catmull shares insights on how to build and maintain a creative culture within an organization. Drawing from his experiences at Pixar, Catmull discusses the importance of open communication, risk-taking, and protecting the creative process. The book includes candid discussions, anecdotes about Pixar's film development, and lessons on managing innovation and creativity. It emphasizes the need for a nurturing work environment and the importance of storytelling in business.

#52168

Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management

Profiting from Evidence-Based Management

Jeffery Pfeffer

Bob Sutton

Bob Sutton and Jeff Pfeffer's "Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense" advocates for evidence-based management, urging managers to rely on data and research rather than intuition or fads. The book challenges common management practices that lack empirical support, highlighting the importance of critical thinking and rigorous evaluation. It explores various management topics, such as leadership, motivation, and organizational structure, providing evidence-based insights to improve decision-making. The authors emphasize the need to question assumptions and challenge conventional wisdom, promoting a more data-driven approach to management. The book serves as a valuable resource for managers seeking to improve their effectiveness through evidence-based practices.

• Mentioned in 3 episodes

The Knowing-Doing Gap

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Bob Sutton

#2894

• Mentioned in 9 episodes

Work Rules!

Laszlo Bock

In 'Work Rules! ', Laszlo Bock shares insights from his time as the head of People Operations at Google, revealing why Google is consistently rated one of the best places to work. The book distills 15 years of intensive worker R&D into counterintuitive principles that are easy to implement. It covers topics such as company culture, hiring practices, and management strategies, providing practical advice on how to create a high-performing and creative workplace. Bock also includes examples from various industries and challenges conventional wisdom on hiring, training, and compensating employees.

#3838

• Mentioned in 7 episodes

Scaling Up Excellence

Bob Sutton

#16915

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Good Boss, Bad Boss

How to Be the Best ... and Learn from the Worst

Robert Sutton

In 'Good Boss, Bad Boss', Robert I. Sutton weaves together psychological and management research with compelling stories and cases to reveal the mindset and actions of the best and worst bosses. The book emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, controlling one's moods and moves, and staying in tune with how followers, superiors, peers, and customers react. It provides practical advice on how great bosses protect their people from unnecessary distractions, absorb and deflect external pressures, and make adjustments to continuously inspire effort, dignity, and pride among their team.

#14883

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Cascades

How to Create a Movement That Drives Transformational Change

Greg Satell

#12005

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Weird Ideas That Work

Bob Sutton

#1866

• Mentioned in 13 episodes

The Friction Project

How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder

Huggy Rao

Robert Sutton

The Friction Project by Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao focuses on the concept of friction in organizations, highlighting both its positive and negative aspects. The authors provide tools and strategies for identifying, assessing, and addressing friction, including 'friction forensics' and a 'help pyramid. ' They delve into common friction troubles such as oblivious leaders, addition sickness, broken connections, jargon monoxide, and fast and frenzied people and teams. The book emphasizes the importance of leaders acting as 'friction fixers' to improve communication, cooperation, and collaboration, and to maintain a productive workplace culture.

#985

• Mentioned in 22 episodes

The No Asshole Rule

Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't

Robert Sutton

In this book, Robert I. Sutton discusses the destructive impact of 'assholes' in the workplace, providing strategies for identifying and eliminating negative influences. He introduces the concept of the 'Total Cost of Assholes' (TCA) and offers practical advice on how to build a more civilized and productive work environment. The book includes case studies from various organizations and provides a self-diagnostic test to help readers identify and manage their own behavior. Sutton also explores the difference between 'temporary' and 'certified' assholes and how to deal with each type effectively.

Bob Sutton is among the most influential business scholars today. One of Stanford’s Business School’s most distinguished professors, a bestselling author of seven books including, most recently, The Friction Project, he has advised CEO’s ranging from Pixar’s Ed Catmull to IDEO’s David Kelley.

Yet his career didn’t start out in an ivory tower, but in a pizza shop smoking pot. It was through a series of relationships, starting with the woman who would become his wife, that he found his path. Along the way he built the bonds that led to penetrating insights about how organizations function.

In this episode, Bob shares his thoughts on how leaders do—and don’t—create the conditions for their organizations to succeed and shares personal anecdotes about famous CEOs, the founding of Stanford’s “D-School” and much more.

Bob Sutton’s website: https://www.bobsutton.net/

Bob’s new book: https://amzn.to/40gaDTH

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