Plan B Forum

... I am vindicated.

Why Being a Jerk Can Be a Valuable Life Skill
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why- ... ket-newtab

Unfortunately, the higher income aspects of assholery has eluded me.

And in the end, being rich is relative. Life is good.

I've seen that before and I don't buy it. I recall a boss I once had who would qualify as an asshole extraordinaire sending around a similar article on negotiations, and his point was that the asshole always does best. Unfortunately, as he showed several times, if it was also important that the deal get done, being an asshole could be a big drawback. I recall once being sent in to negotiate an acquisition we really needed to make that he screwed up by alienating the CEO; I got it done (after a lot of effort) but that CEO insisted on more money than he had originally agreed to, not because he was an asshole, but because he was pissed and was willing to walk otherwise. Clearly in any negotiation you have to stand up and push back, but it often doesn't pay to be an asshole unless you are willing to walk away from the table and will no longer have any contact or relationship with that person(s). IMHO, cultivating relationships is often a far better tactic; indeed, I have settled contentious lawsuits on reasonable terms precisely because of such relationships.

I stopped when I got here: "What I mean by “being an asshole” is a willingness to be disliked and/or to upset other people. "

No. An asshole is someone who is, willingly or not, disliked for rational reasons (this person will do me harm if I let him, in furtherance of his own ends) and not just for some tribal reason (he's a libtard or a Republican). If "willingness to be disliked and/or to upset other people" is evidence of assholery, them I'm guilty as charged. Throughout my working life in what I think is an important public health field, I have been equally willing to upset my bosses (we have to spend more $$) or the people who work under my direction (sorry guys, we'll have to do it again) in order to get the job done right. I have hung up on my boss when he told me to do something illegal (in his defense I think he was too fucking thick to know it was illegal) and I have fired people who wouldn't put in the effort to get it done properly.

And I don't think I'm an asshole. Nor, by the way, whatever you might want us to believe, are you, Ray.

I have not seen an advantage for a-holes when initiating or doing business, but they sure have an advantage when it comes to disengaging -- people will pay a premium just to be done with them. Which, of course, is a good reason to never do business with them in the first place.