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Bad Apples
November 17, 2010
When I dare to be powerful—to use my strength in the service of my vision—then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
-Audrey Lorde, 1934-1992, Writer and Professor
"Compared with teams without bad apples, those with just one suffer a performance disadvantage of 30% to 40%."

This is the conclusion of Robert Sutton, in his article "The Boss as Human Shield," in Harvard Business Review (September 2010).  He observes that, "Rotten apples sap time and energy that could be devoted to useful tasks.  Their negativity is also contagious — it infects coworkers, turning them into [poor performers] just like them." 

Expanding on this point Sutton notes, "... no matter how hard you work to build a great team, you will hire or be assigned some weak and destructive people."  He identifies ... "three kinds of destructive characters ... withholders of effort ... [those] who express pessimism, anxiety, insecurity, and irritation ... and [those] who violate interpersonal norms of respect."

According to Sutton, a leaders job ... "is, of course, to help them learn and improve.  If they don't change, however, it is best to send them packing."




 


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Comments (4)

Displaying All 4 Comments
Manjusree Mitra · December 03, 2010
NETZ Bangladesh
Dhaka, N/A, Bangladesh


I really liked the topic. In the work place it is really harmful to work with a bed apple who is in the program team. Sometimes even it is more difficult to clearly identify by the 2nd level supervisors, that who is real bad apple. Because the person is playing different role there. So team suffers alot.

sue lewellen · November 17, 2010
United States


What does a teacher do when the "bad apple" is a student---a child with such a negative attitude that it infects the whole class? This child is definitely dealing with some self-esteem issues and we are all trying to help him to feel better about himself, but the effort seems to drain all the energy from the whole group. HELP!

Norman Lorenz, M.Ed. · November 17, 2010
Sacramento City College
Sacramento, CA, United States


As a professor in early education, it is essential that I empower students to look ahead to their role as educators and guides for children as we continually reflect upon how the theory in our class work translates out to their roles with young children! The role of the teacher as a leader and facilitator of information is balanced with the prepared environment.

Nirmal Kumar Ghosh · November 17, 2010
Shishu Vikash Kendra
Kolkata, West Bengal, India


Bad apples can destroy the good apples.



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