If you have to institute a No A$$hole Policy at your company, it’s probably too late

I love the No A$$hole Policy at a company. 

We don’t have one of those at Dragon Army. We just simply don’t hire a$$holes, so there’s no reason to have the policy. Our values – Team First, Think Positively, Have Fun – guide us in ensuring we hire the right people and maintain the right culture.

There was a point at Engauge where we had to institute the No A$$hole Policy. It was because, quite frankly, we had a bunch of a$$holes running around. The old leader(ship) was totally fine with these type of people as long as they were hard-working and smart. For me, there’s no amount of work ethic or smarts that over-rule allowing a$$holes into your company. Here comes the pun…wait for it…

Because if you allow a$$holes at your company, you’re going to have a sh&tty company. #nailedit

So we instituted a policy. But the real change didn’t happen until the leader(ship) was changed, and then we were able to rebuild a culture that simply didn’t allow that type of person to enter it. And I think everyone involved with Engauge will agree that the last few years of our run was the best by far, and mostly because of those changes.

I think if you have to institute this policy at your company, then it’s probably too late. If you have the problem, that means something is broken at the top that is allowing that type of person, and behavior, to exist. And unless a change also happens at the top, it’s likely not going to fix your problem.