• FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

Book review: 'Jerks at Work'

Jim Giuliano
by Jim Giuliano
August 19, 2009
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

The book’s full title is “I Hate People: Kick Loose From the Overbearing and Underhanded Jerks at Work and Get What You Want Out of Your Job.” That about says it all.
The advice of the authors — Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon, who bills himself as a “branding expert” — is to avoid the urges toward violence or stealing a jerk’s lunch out of the company refrigerator (it’s probably something you wouldn’t want to eat anyway).
In fact, some of the advice is even more simplistic than that — such as the impractical approach of simply avoiding the jerks. Good luck with that if one of the jerks happens to be your boss.
The meat of the book comes when the authors brand (Hershon’s specialty, we guess) each of the jerk character types and give advice on how to deal with them when you have no other choice. For instance:

  • “The spreadsheets.” This is the tireless enforcer of the rules — particularly deadlines — who’ll conjure up any reason to stop you from doing something innovative and productive. Gentle prodding works, rather than trying to steamroll them or committing homicide, which is illegal in most states.
  • “The bulldozers.” These are the people who like to dominate by banging their fists on the desk and yelling into the phone.  The authors’ advice: Ask them point-blank, “Do you have a recommendation?” Or point out that they’re yelling and you refuse to continue dealing with them until they stop.
  • “The stop signs.” They say they’re only “playing devil’s advocate” but what they’re really doing is dreaming up every improbable reason why your idea won’t work. Advice: Tell them you’re still in the planning stages and that you want more of their input when you’re further along. OK, that’s probably a lie, but drastic times call for drastic measures, or something like that.
  • “The flimflams.” There are those smooth-talkers who try to stick you with their work by glossing over details, lying or, in extreme cases, mumbling. Advice: Ask for the particulars — what they’ll commit to and what your responsibilities will be — in writing. Then, figuratively, throw the document in their faces when they renege. They’ll probably come up with a phony excuse, but at least you can offer the rejoinder that you’ll only do what you committed to do in the beginning.

There are more unsavory characters in the book, and more advice on how to deal with them. Let’s just hope they don’t get hold of the book and learn our plans on how to foil them.

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • HR Technology
  • Performance Management
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation & Payroll
  • Policy & Culture
  • Staff Administration
  • Wellness & Safety
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader