# Anybody here ever work for a company with a "No asshole" rule?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-here-ever-work-for-a-company-with-a-no-asshole-rule/758623>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 28, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-here-ever-work-for-a-company-with-a-no-asshole-rule/758623 "2016-06-28T13:04:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 35

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**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-here-ever-work-for-a-company-with-a-no-asshole-rule/758623/35 "2016-06-29T14:42:45Z")

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> [@Nava](#):
>
> What I understand he’s saying is that if someone isn’t willing to follow instructions, that someone should not be looking for subordinate jobs.

> [@kiz](#):
>
> Working with people who’d all rather be managers than underlings breeds drama like nothing else. I don’t like the phrase “cowed by the system” but every business needs compliant worker bees if anything is to be accomplished.

I was reading another thread about Drill Instructors, and I came across a quote in that thread that applies to this thread.

> [@\[How tough were drill instructors? - Edited title\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tough-were-drill-instructors-edited-title/758679/6):
>
> There were a few of them that emphasized obedience over reason and common sense, and I didn’t have much respect for them. Dealing with those kinds of people did not make me disciplined as much as it just made me pissed off and resentful.

**Nava** , and **kiz** , it sounds like you are having a hard time distinguishing between insisting on procedure when there’s a good reason for it, versus insisting on procedure for the sake of procedure.

To continue with the example of applying for a job–  
When I have a resume that lists my work experience for the last 10 years, the names and locations of those companies, the dates I was at each company, and my duties at each company, and the skills that I have acquired, and any other information that is pertinent to the application– **that is ALL the information that a hiring manager needs!**

To insist that I fill out an application form to duplicate that information is both stupid and highly inefficient. That is “obedience over reason and common sense.” And it shows very, very clearly that many companies do NOT want people who know how to think. They want mindless drones who will do as they are told, and not cause trouble by asking questions. And it’s not necessarily a question of wanting to be a manager. It’s a question of stupidity vs. common sense. I am perfectly willing to follow any instructions given to me – **IF** those instructions make sense.

Now some companies that do their hiring online have software that reads your uploaded resume and automatically fills in a great many of the fields in the application form. That’s the only reasonable way to do it, if they’re going to insist on a form.

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