Robert I. Sutton Books
Robert I. Sutton is a professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University and a co-founder of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program.
Known for: Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management, Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less, The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt, The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't
Books by Robert I. Sutton
Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management
This book advocates for evidence-based management, urging leaders to make decisions grounded in data and research rather than intuition or conventional wisdom. Pfeffer and Sutton expose common manager...
Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less
This book explores how organizations can effectively scale up excellence—spreading and sustaining the right mindset, behaviors, and practices as they grow. Drawing on extensive research and case studi...
The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt
In this practical and witty guide, Stanford professor Robert I. Sutton offers evidence-based strategies for surviving and managing difficult people in the workplace and beyond. Building on his earlier...
The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder
In this management and leadership book, Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao explore how leaders can identify and reduce organizational friction that slows progress, while strategically adding friction to p...
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't
In this influential management book, Stanford professor Robert I. Sutton explores how toxic behavior in the workplace undermines performance, morale, and organizational culture. He presents research-b...
Key Insights from Robert I. Sutton
The Problem of Conventional Wisdom
We have both taught and studied management for decades, and one persistent observation continues to trouble us: managers far too often act on beliefs that are simply untested—or flatly wrong. The problem with conventional wisdom is not that it is always false; rather, it becomes dangerous precisely ...
From Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management
Hard Facts and Their Importance
Facts are stubborn things—but organizations have a way of contorting them. Our research repeatedly showed that even when data are available, managers often ignore or misinterpret them, preferring anecdote to analysis. This is not mere laziness; it is human nature. Stories stick; data bore. Yet organ...
From Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management
The Problem of Scaling
Every organization that achieves pockets of success eventually faces the scaling dilemma—the tension between wanting more and preserving what already works. As we looked deeper into the stories of companies and institutions, we found leaders torn between two competing impulses: expanding their reach...
From Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less
The Mindset of Scaling
When we examined organizations that successfully scaled excellence, we discovered two dominant philosophies. We called them 'Catholicism' and 'Buddhism'—a metaphor to describe how leaders think about replication and adaptation. The 'Catholic' mindset demands standardization: one true way, consistent...
From Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less
Recognizing Assholes
The first step toward keeping your peace is knowing exactly whom you’re dealing with. Not everyone who frustrates you deserves the label. I define an asshole by their consistent pattern of treating others as inferior—through belittling words, condescending gestures, manipulation, or exclusion. The d...
From The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt
Assessing the Situation
Once you recognize the pattern, the question becomes: what can you reasonably do? Survival strategies depend on context—what power you hold, how often you encounter the person, and how much energy you can afford to invest. I emphasize a decision-making framework: if you have little power or frequent...
From The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt
About Robert I. Sutton
Robert I. Sutton is a professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University and a co-founder of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. He is known for his research on leadership, innovation, and workplace culture, and is the author of several bestselling books on organizational b...
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Robert I. Sutton is a professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University and a co-founder of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. He is known for his research on leadership, innovation, and workplace culture, and is the author of several bestselling books on organizational b...
Robert I. Sutton is a professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University and a co-founder of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. He is known for his research on leadership, innovation, and workplace culture, and is the author of several bestselling books on organizational behavior.
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Robert I. Sutton is a professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University and a co-founder of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program.
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