Recently, we had an interesting discussion in our weekly executive meeting. At our company, we’re just wrapping up our annual performance evaluations. We were talking about how the process went this year and what we could do to improve it. One of our senior team members  said our evaluation system can actually hurt morale.

Here’s his point. Our performance evaluation system includes ratings of outstanding, exceeds expectations, meets expectations, needs improvement, and unsatisfactory. As a company, we expect the distribution of the appraisals to be somewhat of a bell curve that is SLIGHTLY skewed to the top end. That is, we expect the majority of our employees meet our expectations and we have a few more who exceed the middle rating than fall below it. The problem is that the employees see a “meets expectations” rating as a “C” or just average. If “outstanding” is an “A,” and “exceeds expectations” is a “B,” then a “meets expectations” must be a “C.” Of course, the next two ratings would be “D” and “F.” See how it all works?

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A colleague recently suggested I read the book, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t. Maybe I should have asked what his motives were in suggesting that I read this particular book. I didn’t. Some things you just don’t want to know!

The book was a New York Times bestseller, so plenty of people have read it. I’d say it has some good lessons for everyone. But, what amazed me were some of the stories the author, Robert I. Sutton, told about assholes in the workplace.

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The results of a recent survey of our employees here at BLR are in and, frankly, I’m concerned.

You see, our survey contained 27 statements about our work environment. The employees were asked whether they agreed with each statement and how strongly they agree or disagree with it. The statements covered individual, departmental, and company-wide items such as performance feedback, recognition, communication, personal development, and fairness.

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I once read that you need three people to run a successful business — a creative leader, a businessperson, and an asshole. (Sorry, but that’s what it said!) As I recall, the argument went that you need a creative type who has that intuitive ability to judge what the market wanted whether it was in product development or marketing. You need a businessperson to set strategic direction, handle deal making, and manage for profit.  And, the argument went, you need the “bad cop” to do some of the dirty work, make some tough calls, and possess the ability to say no. Now, I’m not sure you actually need these three people, but you definitely need all three skill sets in the top people in the company.

I worked in a company where there were three of us who fit these descriptions. We had a CEO who was a creative force who brought ideas, market sense, and a passion that helped to set the tone for the company. (Yes, Mark, I’m talking about you since I know you read this from time to time.) As president, I was responsible for the day-to-day operations, people management, and business relationships. My job was to identify the ideas that had the highest potential for success and get them to fruition. Finally, our CFO was a disciplined, “by the book” guy who constantly brought standard procedures and processes to what we were doing. Our CEO dubbed him “Dr. No” for his tendency to tell us why we couldn’t do things.

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I’ve been reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. It’s an interesting read because Jobs was a fascinating character. Jobs was a polarizing figure, revered by many and hated by others. But regardless of how anyone might feel about him, there’s no denying the man was a creative genius.

Shortly after Jobs’ death I wrote the following: “Steve Jobs has been called the greatest American innovator since Thomas Edison. Like Edison, his contributions have changed the lives of people worldwide and will continue to do so for generations to come. Now that’s a legacy!”

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“How good am I?” is a question we all ask ourselves. We want to know how good we are at most things in our lives. We want to know how we’re doing in our relationships. Are you a good friend, spouse, or parent? We want to know how good we are at our hobbies. Are you a good piano player, golfer, or artist? In some cases, we can just ask those around us and they will freely tell us.  In others, there are competitions we can enter and be judged or measured against our peers.

But what about at work? How good are you at your job? It’s not something that we often ask our peers. Our spouse or significant other won’t likely be able to offer much insight. There is no competition to enter to compare yourself to others.

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It’s March. Chances are there’s an NCAA men’s basketball tournament pool being conducted in your office right now. If you’re in it, good luck! There are a number of them here in our office. (You want to see my picks click here.) It’s estimated that $2.5 billion changes hands over this single event. That’s quite the tidy sum.

So if you’re like me, you printed out a copy of the tournament brackets and assessed the teams involved in this year’s competition. With 68 teams in the tournament, there’s plenty to think about. You must consider a team’s ability to score, play defense, and rebound. It’s prudent to think about their strength of schedule, experience, the coach’s ability, and how they finished the regular season. You might want to do some research to find out what the “experts” are saying about the various teams. But with 68 of them to consider, it’s unlikely you have a lot of first-hand knowledge about most of the teams in the tournament.

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The other day, it was pointed out to me  that we Americans like to be comfortable. It may seem like I’m stating the obvious here since no one likes to be uncomfortable. And maybe I am, but hear me out on this one.

Do you know what the number one selling chair is in America? It’s La-Z-Boy. But it’s not just the chairs we choose to sit in. Comfort has become a critical part of our everyday life. Think about the clothes we wear. We’re looking for comfort and, therefore, sweatpants have found a place in almost every person’s wardrobe. With their elastic waistbands they are the perfect thing to wear when you’re laying back in your La-Z-Boy. And we even have words that describe our sweatpants-wearing, La-Z-Boy-lounging selves — couch potatoes. Try to tell me that comfort isn’t important to us?

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One of the reasons I enjoy sports is the human dynamic at work in every sporting endeavor. At different times and in different sports, an athlete may do battle with another competitor, the elements, or even with himself and his will. This fascinates me. What’s more, an athlete often has to deal with teammates, a coach, and management or governing bodies. There always seems to be something going on in the sporting world that lends itself to the drama of the human theater.

Jeremy Lin

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It was a busy travel day and, as often is the case, a flight was canceled. As you might expect, the passengers weren’t all that happy about it. One man in particular was visibly upset by the canceled flight.

As he waited in line to book passage on another flight, he became increasingly agitated until he stormed to the front of the line. There, he confronted an airline employee, saying, “I demand that you find me a first-class seat on the very next flight out!”

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