Who knew they'd cost so much?

The figure is called TCA, which, simply enough, stands for Total Cost of Assholes.

This is an actual, valid, scholastic (?) piece penned by Bob Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University.

Okay, okay, so the terminology for the subject is - (ahem) - colorful.
But why the heck not?!

Call a spade a spade...

and a jerk an asshole!

According to Prof. Sutton in his book "The No Asshole Rule" you can quantify a jerk's cost, particularly to an organization.

One case was about a guy who was such a jerk, he cost his company $160,000 (that's over 6 million pesosesosesoses to us) to pay for hiring and training new people to replace those who've quit because of him; as well as to enroll him in anger management and sexual harassment seminars (and that doesn't include legal fees from suits filed yet!)

My point?
If you're working with or (more unfortunately) for an asshole, here are some suggestions:

1. Know that assholes (jerks, bullies or whatever you call them) feed on fear - your fear.
Doth quote the venerable Mr. G.I. Joe: "Knowing is half the battle."

2. The bigger the asshole, the bigger costs he incurs
It may not translate to direct costs, but keep tabs on the expenses such as the cost of hiring new people or the cost of losing productivity because of his bullying.

3. If you're a freelancer or a consultant, consider applying an "asshole tax" to your fee.
This works 2 ways:
#1. It's a proven fact, jackass clients take up more of your time. You might as well make it worth your while.
#2. Jacked-up fees will deter cheap jackasses from you. If you have to work for an asshole, he might as well be a rich asshole.

And finally,

4. If you have to hire or work with an asshole, make sure he's an insanely brilliant asshole.
To a certain degree, jerks cause a level of antagonism that can keep people around him on their toes. It's like that story about a tank of tuna fish that turns out to taste the freshest off a fishing barge because the shark inside the tank kept the tuna swimming constantly.


But all in all, if they can be avoided - no, wait - ELIMINATED, do so. Some factors may mitigate the stress to some extent, but ultimately, I don't think it's worth it.

And the sooner these assholes learn that they can't get away with that kind of behavior, the better it is for everyone - most especially themselves.

But until then, we can only hope.