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Is Your Boss a Psychopath?
Dogers writes "Robert Hare, creator of the Psychopathy Checklist, has recently been applying his test 'Is your boss a psychopath' to businessmen and has found some disturbing results. From the article: 'Why wouldn't we want to screen them? We screen police officers, teachers. Why not people who are going to handle billions of dollars?'. Citing Enron and Worldcom management as an example, it seems a reasonable argument. The same source also has a quiz (magazine produced it seems) which allows you to test your own boss, too!"
Yes! Next question?
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
I think that this could be the very first Slashdot thread composed entirely of AC posts.
Minus this one of course.
Should we screen everyone then? On man's psycopath is aanother man's genius.
Although there are psychopaths out there- I had an internship where a boss of mine spend 10 minutes screaming at me for stapling something crooked.
And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
to basically earn your way through life by exploiting and berating underlings, some of which are inevitably of equal or even superior skill and/or intellect to you.
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
So apparently I'm in the Be Very Afraid range. Remind me to never go into business for myself or I'll eventually kill the bastard.
Do not taunt Happy-Fun Ball
OK, this must mean that about 95% of politicians are psychopaths:
- glib and superficially charming
- grandiose sense of self-worth
- pathological liar
- master manipulator
- lack of remorse or guilt
- shallow
- callous and lacking in empathy
- fail to accept responsibility for his own actions
Yep, that's a politician alright.
Why do so many bosses suck?
Because those who desire the power should be the least likely to have it. I've had some good bosses, and 90% of the time they didn't really want the job, they just kind of grew into it over time.
Other times - whew. There was the one boss who, coming in the first day, told everybody that he wasn't there to be a friend, and he could fire the whole department at a moment's notice if he wanted.
5 minutes later I was dusting off my resume. When he found me dressing nice (so I could go on lunch breaks, which were really interviews), he told me he'd fired me if he caught me interviewing somewhere else. And he'd know, because he had "contacts" all over town who would tell him. "Contacts" who would call him and ask if I was applying somewhere. Private eyes - were watching me - they'd see my every move.
Oddly enough, I guess his contacts forgot to call him three days later when I quit and went to my new, higher paying, better hours job.
So if nothing else, I'm thankful for bad bosses, since they seem to be the greatest force in people finding new and better jobs. (Even though they suck.)
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
> Surely in ancient times psycopathy would not
> have got you far. You'd likely be expelled
> from a society or likely killed.
I'd think the psychopaths would probably be the ones doing the killing.
Microsoft cheerleader, blue flag waving, you got a problem with that?
If Psycopathy has a genetic component, then has it survived natural selection.
Putting aside the arguments over "natural selection", it remains in the gene pool because it works. There are often situations that require someone to push through the bullcrap and make something happen. These sociopaths are far more suited to this task because they care nothing for the consequences, or who's opinion they ignore, or who's feelings they hurt. They may not even care about who lives or dies. (Which in some situations, someone will die no matter what course is taken.) The problem has always been that they are a tough fit for any society they create. As the article says, they want the next thrill immediately. Yet emergency situations requiring their brashness tend to be very rare.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
The Corporation
This documentary looks at a corporations from a psychologists perspective and finds that corporations are sociopaths
-best
-greg
Nitpick: Capitalism is not a type of government, it's an economic system. But, you're right, look at all the homocidal monarchs of years past, Saddam, etc.
However, capitalism gives mild psychopaths a legal outlet for their manipulative urges. It's understood today, and even encouraged, that to be successful in business you must screw people over. I majored in business administration and that's more or less what management classes are - they teach you how to manipulate people for the good of the Company. As with anything else, a natural aptitude for it will make you more successful.
The reason is quite simple.
Much of our history has been dominated by violence, and our ancestors are those who survived violent episodes. Either by being very smart, very cute, or very evil.
Psychopaths are overwhelmingly male and psychopathic behaviour is generally evidenced by the ability to hurt and harm others without the usual remorse and empathic pain that most people feel.
The reason why only a small fraction of people show this behaviour is because (a) it's quite counterproductive in stable societies, so quickly gets pushed into marginal genepools (the bad boys of any village), and (b) it has a large component of environmental triggering, meaning that many people (mainly men, again) can exhibit psychopathic behavour given the right circumstances.
Why are psychopaths so charming? Partly because it works well in conflict situations. Partly because it acts to deflect attention. Selection works at the gene level, and the charming psychopathic genes have survived civilisation much better than the pure violence ones.
My blog
Capitalism and psychopathy go hand in hand. That's why it has survived today.
Definitely. No other ideology in history has produced so many psychopaths.
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
The faster we get this mess over with, the better. We should just start offering MBA's to the prisioners in all the "super-max" facilities.... That way, they could start being useful immed. upon their return to society. I can just see it now...."IPO to be offered upon parole"
To prove my point... http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=5176
see the story about this guy, he's continuing to get paid WHILE he's serving 18 mos. for criminal offenses. The board kept him on because he's a "visionary" and "knows the business" the best!
See what I mean?
If Psycopathy has a genetic component, then has it survived natural selection. Surely in ancient times psycopathy would not have got you far. You'd likely be expelled from a society or likely killed.
To me, it seems like an extension of the "survival of the fittest" meme. People who can manipulate others and use influence to benefit their own ends usually wind up getting more wealth, beautiful women attracted to such, etc etc. Think of the elite hunter-gatherers, who had a ton of food and was attractive to mates due to their cunning and ability to provide, thusly spreading their genes further.
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
Who cares if your boss is a psycho, when we work out why people who do all the work (manual labour etc.) get 10 times less money then the people who point and go "Get it done by next week" (managers). I think we'll be about ready to ask pointless questions like these..
I like muppets.
You're fired for making a grammatical error that a 2nd grader would make.
-PMP-
"Is your employee a whining crybaby?"
For each question, score two points for "yes," one point for "somewhat" or "maybe," and zero points for "no."
1) Does he/she frequently post on geek websites, complaining about you being a psychopath?
2) Does your employee hate Microsoft, IBM, the Patent Office, and/or does he feel that somehow his future is threatened by them?
3) Does your employee believe SCO may have a case?
4) Is your employee constantly whining about management decisions like purchasing a Microsoft Exchange server or cisco routers?
5) Did your employee get overly agitated when you decided to pay SCO for their Linux Licenses?
6) Does he/she often speak in a language uncomprehensible to human beings? using words such as "packet" "protocol" or "xfree"
7) Does he/she look frustrated when you make bold management decisions, such as assigning half the company to a research project about sending electricity over fax machines?
8) Is your employee constantly whining about not having enough time or resources in order to achieve his goals?
1-4 | Our condolences. Your employee may be dead.
5-7 | Be cautious about not approaching him.
8-12 | Be afraid of approaching him.
13-16 | Be very afraid of approaching him.
For each question, score two points for "yes," one point for "somewhat" or "maybe," and zero points for "no."
[1] Is he glib and superficially charming?
[2] Does he have a grandiose sense of self-worth?
[3] Is he a pathological liar?
[4] Is he a con artist or master manipulator?
[5] When he harms other people, does he feel a lack of remorse or guilt?
[6] Does he have a shallow affect?
[7] Is he callous and lacking in empathy?
[8] Does he fail to accept responsibility for his own actions?
1-4 | Be frustrated
5-7 | Be cautious
8-12 | Be afraid
13-16 | Be very afraid
--
make install -not war
Is he glib and superficially charming? - Is he a people-person?
Does he have a grandiose sense of self-worth? - Does he add value to the company?
Is he a pathological liar? - Does he keep the investors informed
Is he a con artist or master manipulator? - Does he attract new business?
When he harms other people, does he feel a lack of remorse or guilt? - Does he have what it takes to thrive in a competitive enviroment?
Does he have a shallow affect? - Does he let his emotions control his business decisions?
Is he callous and lacking in empathy? - Is he able to place the interests of the company first?
Does he fail to accept responsibility for his own actions? - My personal favorite - Is he able to look at the 'Big Picture'
Yes, tis true. We are the future!
You know it always annoys me when I see these two words confused. As I was taught, a psychopath cannot hide his mental illness. A psychopath is the person who crashes into McDonalds and starts shooting. Sociopaths are serial killers that manage to hide their predilections for years without getting caught.
Insert Generic Sig Here:
Capitalism rewards psychopathic behavior inherently. All of the people you just smugly linked to were psychopaths in -spite- of their ideology.
That just gave me an idea for a business, "Psychopaths On Call." We can have them stay at home with a pager, and companies can hire them by the hour for those tough, decisions of questionable ethics...
I think I'll call my attorney about the legalities of this one.
oh wait...
"Teleporting Rodents with D-Cell Battery Displacement" theory -- IgnoramusMaximus (692000)
or does that occupation render them immune?
The problem is that most folks have a natural inclination to disbelieving that sort of thing, especially if it involves their own fearless leader.
The unbeleivability factor of it is perfect camoflage.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Funny that all of but one of them suscribed to totalitarianism and not true communism.
Dictators are psychopaths, go figure. As for Che, revolutionnairies are usually psychopaths as well.
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
Oh lord. I'm usually part of the grammar police myself. I guess I could say that I was imitating Mauricio by using "your" instead of "you're" on purpose. In fact, that's what I'm going to go with.
Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. --Nietzsche
I would laugh and agree with you, but I can't. See, I have taken the time to meet and actually discuss the real issues with these folks.
Yes, they come off to casual observers as being glib and superficially charming. But that is because when they are campaigning they are meeting literally hundreds and thousands of people a day. Try doing that and not acting glib. I saw an example of this last night. One of the people in our group complained about a recent decision by the city council. How many times have they heard this? I am guessing at least 10, maybe 20 times a day. Anyway, the one gal gives the canned, practiced response. How many times had she given this? At least as many times as she heard the complaint. It was a reasonable response, but you had to think about it for a while to understand the real issues. But to the casual observer, it was glib, superficially charming, and meaningless.
Politicians aren't generally liars or grandiose. Those are the ones you see on TV and read about in the paper. The vast majority of politicians only show up when it's election time, and they have to attempt to manipulate you to vote for them. All of them must make this rite of passage. The only ones that don't are those who are in appointed positions.
As far as callous and shallow, this is again a trait that the minority has. The vast majority, on both sides of the aisle, really care about what they doing and are pouring their heart and soul into their work. They can't care about everything, though. They can't even know about everything. So while you may see one at a funeral who isn't touched, remember that this is probably the third funeral of the week, and that they probably don't know the guy personally or at least to the point where they have become emotionally attached. After all, it's only politics, and if you become emotionally attached to people prepare for serious heartbreak when they endorse your opponent or turn on you after a bad decision.
Lack of remorse or guilt, and a failure to accept responsibility... I think you have to really get to know them and see the problems from their perspective. Sometimes, they knew there would be fallout, and they are prepared to accept the bad parts because they want the good part. So when those who are affected by the fallout come to complain, they are going to seem callous. Or would you rather have them say, "I knew this was going to happen, and you would be affected this way, and I made the decision regardless. It was a tough decision, but it was the best damn decision I could've made. And basically you weren't here to show us a better decision and it's water under the bridge now. I know you won't care about what I have to say because you can't see past your own problems, so I won't bother explaining. Just get it out of your system and let us move on to more important things."
But another thing you will see is that politicians, at the end of the day, are used and abused by their constituents. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people support a candidate only to turn on them moments later, only to support them moments later. It's a roller coaster ride, and the only way politicians can cope is to stay emotionally detached in their work. If there's crying to be done, it's done very privately on the shoulder of their spouse or very. very close and trusted friends. Otherwise, emotion can't enter into it. If it does, they will quickly become psychopathic.
I want to emphasize that there are a few psychopaths in politics, on both sides of the aisle. They probably aren't who you think they are and a few of the ones who you think aren't probably are. You will find them somewhat equally distributed throughout all levels of politics. Use the criteria, but apply it individually. And you must take the time to get to know the candidate personally. I tell you from experience that the local newspaper is abou as trustworthy as the pious gossip at your local church. If you base any of your opinions on what you see or read second- or third-hand, prepare to be misinformed.
The radical sect of Islam would either see you dead or "reverted" to Islam.
She seems to think most politicians are APD. She claims that it's what makes them good politicians. She cites Jimmy Carter as someone who's not enough of a sociopath.
If you think about it, that explains an awful lot.
This sig seemed like a good idea at the time....
I am just amazed at the number of people posting "That's what you want in an exec." or "That is how companies need to run to return value." Are we really that misguided as a society? Do the 71% of Americans who claim to go to church actually listen? (Or maybe they do not really attend). Not that church is a requirement for morality, but at least it should be a standard we can claim a measure against.
The problem is becoming more clear as I read the replies and see what is happening daily. We want ethical treatment but if the other person is acting unethical then heck, I should too. To those who would claim I am misguided, I would say they are. That it is just the way things work in the real world is because of people who go quietly into the dark, seeking nothing but protection for themselves at the expense of others.
That is what some of the executive who went to prison missed. They made a lot of people a lot of money, and most of them were probably not asking about the details. (For example, most of the get tough laws promised and passed by Congress were never enacted.) However, ethics is not something you do, it is something you are and it is binary choice. You cannot be "sort of" unethical or immoral. That is not to say you cannot make mistakes, humans do. However, to excuse behavior as a long series of mistakes makes you an accessory, not an observer. Part of the problem.
I'll see your half dozen communist dictators and raise you 100 US Senators. I'll hold onto my President card just in case you have any thing else to play.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
I've actually worked with nice people in management positions. Even from the bad managers I've seen, the ways in which one can be "bad" at one's job are more diverse than being a psychopath or sociopath. Psychopaths do exist, they're not a majority.
Also, for a start, I don't think that berating someone is necessarily bad (much less a sign of being a psychopath). People make mistakes, or do something wrong, or whatever. _I_ make mistakes. I like to think a good manager would tell me when that's the case. (But don't blow it out of proportion, and don't forget the positive feedback too when/if that's deserved.)
I also don't think that "exploiting" someone is a crime. For better or worse, selling my work to a company is the way the economy works. A manager is there to manage and organize that process.
You can think of it as a necessary evil. Personally I don't even consider it "evil". If the boss is doing a good job of organizing things, that's less chaos for me to deal with, so that's actually improving my life.
And, anyway, if they do their job well, I see no problem with them earning a living out of that.
There _are_ ways to be an asshole about it, and yes I've seen awful assholes in management positions. But there are also ways of doing that job without being an asshole.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Stalin was perhaps , he was defiantly an evil bastard .
.. he was quite possibly psychopathic .
Mao was not a psychopath he was a zealot .
Pol Pot i will give you
Castro (the nick is a joke) is defiantly not a psychopath and would possibly fall under the zealot heading.
Che Guevara was defiantly a zealot
Killing a lot of people does not mean you're automatically a psychopath , its the motivation behind you actions .
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
One psychopath that I worked for was Barry Lewis. He would have screaming fits on the phone. After he refused to pay me for a month, he still wanted me to spend time working for him, when I told him that I'd gather what he wanted, once I received payment, he then started calling me about 20 times a day.
He was convicted of harassment. The ADA told me that Barry Lewis threatened him and some of the other employees of the court.
Fight Spammers!
I know, it's tough to come to terms that Hot Topic lead you astray. Guevara ran Cuba's gulags -- the real kind, not the three meals a day Git'mo kind that Amnesty International calls gulags. He also oversaw the temporary forced work camps. This is where the regular citizens were sent to broaden their horizons through sugar cane farming. Then there are the people that were murdered while he tried to sow insurrection in South America.
Sure, compared to Castro who eventually left Guevara to die, he's a pussy cat. Then there's a certain level of romanticizing from The Motorcycle Diaries. However, I wouldn't cut Hitler any slack because he killed many millions less than Stalin. Although I'm sure there's a romantic story lying somewhere in Hitler In Vienna.
If you disagree then it must be overrated, redundant or trolling.
I was always under the naive impression that anyone in office was a sociopath who cared about power or money or whatever, and had therefore concocted a detailed plot to use the government and people for their own benefit.
Then I actually job shadowed a state senator for a day, sat in on a couple meetings and the general assembly... and I realize that they aren't (for the most part) psychopathic or plotting...
They're just... average.
And then I realized that the horrible state of legislation was not the result of malice, but of the pure incompetent that infects the entire society. These were the C students in high school who had the right connections, or just the right interests. They were the masses that I have spent my entire life trying not to disdain because they do not comprehend most complex issues as quickly as my "gifted" friends.
Heinlein once said (paraphrased) than an elected official, ideally, represents a slightly above average member of his electorate. I realized that day that when I consider my opinion of most people I meet, I am not surprised at all at what comes out of the capital. It is no hand-picked best of the best representatives, nor a oligarchy of vile schemers, but simply a vaguely representative group of the more affluent members of our society.
Unfortunately, I think that this realization made me expect even less out of government. An intelligent psychopath at least acts intelligently in his own interest, as opposed to blindly herding in whatever direction is popular today.
1) Most of your answers are exceptionally narrow and don't fully answer the question.
2) You can take nearly any previous president: ask the same questions, and get similar responses. Clinton is an easy target, but even revered leaders (Washington, Lincoln, and certianly presidents of the last century) can be vilified using the same techniques you are using to vilify President Bush.
Your claim that Bush is a psychopath is unconvincing. He may be to a certian extent, the question of how severe a psychopath he is remains unanswered. Were that question answered it wouldn't necessarily cast light on his suitability for presidency.
Nice propoganda, though. You should be in PR - a good place for psychopaths.
-Adam
Googles founders are not narcisists or psychopaths and they are doing just fine in competition with Microsoft.
A psychopath definately should not be boss, not because they run the company bad fiscally, but because they run the country into the ground to make the company successful. Having a narcisist is not much better if you want a clean environment and good health.
Do you think food companies give a damn about our health? They want us to have cancer and heart disease because its profitable. Do you think the government cares about our health? They want healthcare prices to rise above our limits and they dont want you getting drugs from Canada. DO you think doctors care about our health? They want to just sell the drugs the drug companies bribe them to sell.
Psychopaths are EVERYWHERE and unless we create some ethical standards for certain positions or even for getting certain degrees in college its not going to stop. If everyone who wants a masters degree or who wants to be a boss has to pass a psychological screening in the same way we have to pass a drug test I don't think there would be a problem. If we don't do this, then expect our bosses to destroy the world for profit because psychopaths do not care about the world, you do.
Breaking the law, lying, acting on impulse, starting fights, putting oneself in danger, slacking off and not caring.
Does this remind anybody else of high school, or is it just me?
Dare to Hope. Prepare to be Disappointed.
document on the Company comptroller's desk and since I can read upside down, I looked up at him and announced that I was quitting, effective immediately.
It was an announcement that we were to be saddled with a new head of IT who was getting the job because he sold us a bill of goods, had gotten us into a mess in the first place, (I knew he was the nephew of some muckity-muck at [censored]) and that he was starting on Monday.
I left that afternoon, with a letter of recommendation, (I was friends with the head of HR, only back then it was called payroll,) found a job that afternoon, and never looked back.
He didn't want the job and upon arriving he fired everybody, from the chief analyst who was a pleasant enough co-worker, to the data entry clerks.
I was already working for somebody else but all of the other employees weren't so lucky.
Sometimes the boss is a 'bungie cord' boss who gets parachuted in on you and when neither him nor you want him there, the results are just awful.
He was an idiot, an arrogant prick, a blow-hard, a bad manager, an incompetent and he was 'forced' into the job because he'd bankruped his own company so he had nothing better and the Corporate big-wig who'd made the mistake of buying his crap in the first place just couldn't admit it.
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