I‘ve written before about Robert Sutton’s book, The No Asshole Rule. It’s a lodestone text in business classes written by a Stanford Business professor and developed from an article he published in The Harvard Business Review. It’s a funny story. It’s concise. It’s authentic.
I see it as an extension of Kant’s categorical imperative and a passage from Confucius (“do not impose on others what you would not imposed on yourself” (obviously a paraphrase of a translation, from The Analects – sometimes confused with the golden rule, but actually quite distinct).
His well argued for language informed a new video over course policies I prepared for my comp 1 students this year. I have had an epiphany about my class management. I have never tolerated bullying toward other students, but allowed some disrespect aimed at myself because my ego is teflon coated, but in doing so, I may allow an ineffective atmosphere to develop where other students might get hurt or discouraged. I may owe it to the class to be more assertive not due to personal threats to my security, but to preserve a positive classroom environment.
