The bullshit-asymmetry theory

Was Steve Jobs an a**hole?

People join companies, but quit managers. Of course, there is a lot of truth in this statement and I *fondly* recall how one of my managers would just take credit of my work and create a political drama to ensure he hides his weaknesses.

I am sure we all have been through this, worked for a**holes (or still working for one).

But here is the thing → not all a**holes (managers) are bad. Some actually push you to hit your peak performance. They actually elevate your thinking and execution skills and accept no mediocrity.

But how does one understand whether your current a**hole manager is a good a**hole or a real bad one?

Nobody does a better job than Tony Fadell in putting up a framework around this. Tony Fadell is considered as 'the father of the iPod and iPhone' and the creator of Nest thermostat and has worked for probably the biggest a**hole in the tech industry, Steve Jobs (yes, we will come to this towards the end of this post).

Today, I am sharing an idea from Tony’s book BUILD. This idea is particularly important to get a perspective, an evaluation framework on what kind of a**hole boss you should actually want to work with (even though you really hate the person).

Assholes

The 4 types of assholes in any org.

1. Political assholes

The people who master the art of corporate politics, but then do nothing but take credit for everyone else’s work. incredibly risk averse. They don’t make anything themselves—are absent for the real work and tough decisions—but they’ll happily leap in to cry “I told you so” when anybody else’s project has a hiccup, then try to swoop in to “fix” it.

2. Controlling assholes.

Micromanagers who systematically strangle the creativity and joy out of their team. They never give people credit for their work, never praise it, and often steal it.

“The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude higher than to produce it.”

The bullshit-asymmetry theory, a.ka. Brandolini’s law.

3. Asshole assholes

They suck at work and everything else. These are the mean, jealous, insecure jerks who you’d avoid at a party, but who inevitably sit immediately next to you at the office

They will lie, craft gossip, and manipulate others to get people off their scent.

4. Mission-driven “assholes”

The people who are crazy passionate—and a little crazy.

Much like true assholes, they are neither easygoing nor easy to work with. Unlike true assholes, they care. 👇

They give a damn. They listen.

They work incredibly hard and push their team to be better—often against their will.

Now, the big question: How do I really know somebody is a mission driven asshole? Simple. Listen to what people talk about such managers (esp when drunk).

A good way to know if you’re working with a mission-driven "asshole" is to listen to the mythos around them—there are always a few choice stories floating around about some crazy thing they’ve done, and the people who’ve worked with them closely are always telling everyone that they’re not that bad, really.

Most tellingly, the team ultimately trusts them, respects what they do, and looks back at the experience of working with them fondly, because they pushed the team to do the best work of their lives.

What about Steve Jobs?

Steve was a mission-driven “asshole,” a passionate hurricane.

The best thing for the product would always win out eventually because the product was all that mattered. Steve was always focused on the work.

Always.

Now, the final bit - what kind of a manager are you? What you think others think of you?

Next edition: We talk about mental models.