The Art of Making Sh!t Up

Chapter 15Fire the Assholes

Life is stressful. So much to manage, so many relationships to attend to. The last thing we need in our lives are more assholes. You know the type; irritating, obnoxious, constantly aggravating those anywhere near them. They have certain common traits:

• They have an answer or opinion on everything, especially on things they know nothing about.
• They are great at playing “devil's advocate,” shooting down other people's ideas without offering up any of their own.
• They do or say things just to piss people off.
• They're always focused first and foremost on what benefits themselves.
• They think that “Telling it like it is” at all times and never using tact is an excuse for saying shitty things.

If you manage any kind of team, group, reading circle, whatever, my recommendation to you is to “fire the assholes.” They may be high‐performing, they may generate sales, they may be extremely talented, but over the long haul the assholes will always bring a team's performance down. Assholes are demotivational to those around them. They create a toxic environment where people no longer want to express ideas. While the asshole may be a top performer, the asshole tends to inhibit the other team members from performing at a level they are capable of.

Too often in life we allow ourselves to suffer assholes in the misguided belief that somewhere down the line we will reap some kind of benefit from being around these people. Assholes come in all types and sizes. They can ...