“West’s simultaneously humorous and no-nonsense approach to collegiality is broadly applicable. Leaders and workers alike will find in West an astute and personable guide.”
Order Jerks at Work
From open floor plans and Zoom calls to Slack channels, the workplace has changed a lot over the years. But there’s one thing that never changes: you’ll always encounter jerks. Jerks at Work is the definitive guide to dealing with — and ultimately breaking free from — the overbearing bosses, irritating coworkers, and all-around difficult people who make work and life miserable.
Social psychologist Tessa West has spent years leveraging science to help people solve interpersonal conflicts in the workplace. What she discovered is that most of our go-to tactics don’t work because they fail to address the specific motivations that drive bad behavior. In this book, she takes you on a rollicking deep dive of the seven jerks you’re most likely to encounter at the office, drawing on decades of original research to expose their inner workings and weak points — and ultimately deliver an effective game plan for stopping each type before they take you down with them.
“You never know when a jerk is going to get in the way of your success, but with Jerks at Work you can finally protect yourself. This book is career insurance!”
“This book provides the key to working smarter, better, and happier, no matter who you’re working with.”
West’s book follows in the footsteps of Stanford University professor Robert Sutton’s runaway bestseller, The No A**hole Rule, and its hands-on sequel, The A**hole Survival Guide. A social psychologist at New York University, West categorizes different kinds of toxic coworkers (the “kiss up/kick downer,” “free rider” and “gaslighter,” to name a few) and describes how best to engage with them. Even if you don’t have to encounter them in person, difficult colleagues still pervade remote work and can be just as hard to manage in the virtual world.
For anyone who’s said “I can’t stand that jerk!” more times than they’d like to admit, Jerks at Work is the ultimate playbook you wish you didn’t need but will always turn to.
Praise for Jerks at Work
“Most of your happiness at work is based on personal relationships. Being able to manage those relationships when things get difficult is key to your success at work — and in life. Jerks at Work is a practical and engaging set of tools. Buy it.”
— Scott Galloway, author of The Four
“Jerks at Work is a breezy and fun read for anyone who wants happier and healthier relationships at work. Tessa West puts a name to the types of jerks that can make your work life miserable, while also giving practical advice for how to spot them and how to disarm them. This a book you will refer back to again and again.”
— Annie Duke, author of How to Decide
“Tessa West combines easy-to-apply tips with relatable, funny, and shocking stories that will have you taking notes. Anyone regardless of industry or level will benefit from Jerks at Work.”
— Jonah Berger, author of Contagious and The Catalyst
“Reading Jerks at Work is like listening to a real person who is smart, warm, and funny, and who I’d like to have a glass of wine with. That’s unusual for any business or self-help author to achieve — from a scientist it’s practically a miracle. This book basically has it all. I’m going to make it mandatory reading for everyone on my team. We all need this book.”
— Heidi Grant, PhD, author of Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, No One Understands You and What to Do About It, and Reinforcements
“Step back and rejoice, because Tessa West has done something rare and incredible with Jerks at Work. She has condensed and translated incredible insights from her experience as a psychologist, along with decades of relevant research, to create a fun, funny, and functional handbook for how to use science to make your job suck less whether behind your desk, in a conference room, or working from home.”
— Dave McRaney, author of You’re Not So Smart
“Funny and sharp, with great stories and wise and scientifically grounded advice, Jerks at Work is a life-saver for anyone who has to deal with difficult people at work — which includes just about everyone!”
— Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and author of The Sweet Spot
“Tessa West is a star in the field of social psychology. She’s a stellar thinker, writer, and speaker, and D*cks at Work is poised to be a hit. We’ve all encountered a kiss-up-kick-down coworker, a micromanaging boss, or a workplace liar, and West explains what makes them tick, and how to prevent them from making the majority of our waking lives a nightmare.”
— Adam Alter, Professor at New York University Stern School of Business and author of Drunk Tank Pink and Irresistible
Tessa West is an Associate Professor of Psychology at New York University and a leading expert in the science of interpersonal communication. Her research focuses on questions such as: How can we improve communication across cultural and national divides, and what hurdles do we need to overcome to make hybrid communication work?
Tessa received her PhD from the University of Connecticut and has published over 70 academic articles in psychology’s most prestigious journals, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Psychological Science, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. She has received multiple grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Tessa has also received several career awards, including the early career award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Theoretical Innovation Prize from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology among others.
