Forbes has been running a piece on "10 Minutes that Mattered", where they ask CEOs and other influencers in the business world to recall a situation that taught them a lot about life and shaped who they are in the business world.
Every once in a while, you have the big moments in life. You know the ones – maybe your grandfather imparted some wisdom to you or a mentor taught you a lesson.
Or maybe you just jacked some kids in the face
More from a profile as a part of the series at Forbes:
"Lars Dalgaard didn't pull his punches when it came to coming up with his company's catch phrase. For the $112 million (sales) Successfactors ( SFSF – news - people ), it's "No assholes." Dalgaard's referring to the kiss-ups and back-stabbers inside many organizations who get ahead not on merit but on political elbowing. Successfactors' software aims to reward the truly good by measuring performance. As it turns out, Dalgaard adopted this philosophy young in life.
"I was the only foreigner in an English school when I was 13 years old. That experience taught me just how low a tolerance level there is for anyone who's different. They teased me because of my accent. They would call me "bacon" because–and this I can now find funny–England imports the most bacon in the world from Denmark.
Now, I'm normally an anti-violence kind of guy. But I eventually had to punch a couple of kids in the face. It really wasn't my nature. I learned you fight back when you need to. Don't let someone walk all over you. You're a happy dolphin most of the time; then, when someone attacks, you're a shark.
Oh, I give people a chance. Never judge a book by its cover. But fight for your own place."
LOL. Now, I can understand the story and I get that part. Playing devil's advocate, if you need to fight for your own place in an organization, doesn't that mean you might be seen as a a****** by those around you?
Has there ever been an environment more full of contradictions than the American workplace?
Plenty of commentary about the “No A-hole rule” over at SuccessFactor’s page at Glassdoor.com .. http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/SuccessFactors-Reviews-E11393.htm
I did check out glassdoor.com. Kris your final comment about fighting for your place in an org possibly “making you an a$$hole” appears to be very true in this case. This company’s CEO is seen as the biggest one in his office according to the comments at glassdoor.com – they think the no jerks rule is a joke.
“Bad behavior eventually catches up with people & companies. Look at Wall Street. Lars Dalgaard lacks integrity. Stop promoting the (No Jerk ) rule. If you are going to promote something of value then walk the walk instead of spewing out sound bites of Self-Righteousness.”
“I used to have to give this “company pitch” enthusiastically and didn’t know whether to break out laughing or cry at my deceit. Someone at the company had better honestly address the extremely high and disturbing turn over at SFSF. During 2007, the turnover was 82%.”
“Management’s behavior gives you the sense they feel you should feel blessed to work there, which makes employees feel like disposable commodities. CEO is not afraid to publicly blast or insult people on email, etc.”
“The CEO is volatile, the “no a-hole” rule is not followed, there is intense favoritism, the politics are rampant, the morale is very low, and there are constant fire drills (initiated by Lars) to accomplish things which are in direct conflict with what Lars says are the goals of the company.”
“I don’t believe that Lars Dalgaard even takes the “No AH” rule (No Jerk Rule) seriously so why should the employees.”
“In my time there, I never had a performance review done on me (yes that is the main product they sell), didn’t get to participate in the 360 career development surveys for my management team (despite all of the “bible thumping” from the CEO over this) and was precluded from having career development discussions by my manager and his manager.”
“Ironically, for a company that provides solutions for HCM, it does not do a good job of Performance Management of its employees.”
Amazing that SuccessFactors gets press from Bob Sutton about the “no asshole rule,” but they don’t seem to follow it. How can that be? Isn’t there any shame in business or politics at all? Is up down, and left right? Hypocrisy is one of those things that really bugs me in business. Sure make good software, but don’t try to be something you’re not.
why people have to sue successfactors to get paid:
http://www.sanmateocourt.org/midx/strip.php?page=r