I thought it time to contribute some of my writing to the topic of promoting crappy people in the workplace. So here goes:

According to a study released on Friday, 64.2 percent of respondents indicated that either nothing at all or something positive happened to the bully or crappy manager at their office.  If you're anything like me, these findings will no doubt make you say, "Yeah, no duh."

It's nice to have a study to put it down on paper and all, but I think we've all known this from the dawn of time.  For some reason, it's always the schmucks that get promoted up and up and up.  And as I've always said, you lose a little piece of your soul for each rung of the corporate ladder you climb.  And it seems the crappy people, are intent on losing their souls. It's too bad too, because they have so little equity banked in their soul account to begin with.

Or so it seems.

You guys know I'm not big on promotions.  I am aware that there are very nice, decent people who want to move up in a company to actually try to do some good.  Those people have good intentions. But you know what they say about good intentions. 

So, it got me to thinking.  What should we conclude from the study findings? Is it that toxic, crappy, jerky people get promoted by a company simply in order to move them from where they are---to reshuffle the deck so-to-speak?  Or is it that the good people don't give a crap about being promoted and don't seek out those higher positions? Additionally, does management promote crappy people so that they can keep good company?

Furthermore, since I'm a firm believer in the general goodness of people, that leads me to believe that statistically, there are more good people than bad people in this world.  And whattya know? That statistic is directly proportional to how many management positions there are out there.  (Also to how many government leadership positions there are, but that's for another day, eh?)

Seriously, humor me on this.  I made a little graphic to illustrate my point.  I'm sure I'm not the first person to come to this conclusion, but  hey, here's my chart.  Allow me to feel scientific for a minute.

Makes sense, doesn't it! 

I recently had a chat with a friend of mine who complained at how many "just plain bad" people she has been encountering in management.  The previous time I had seen her, she mentioned she was going back to school for her MBA.  When I asked her what her end goal was, she told me it was to move up the ladder.  I told her it's only going to get worse in that case!  The thing is, my friend is the nicest person.  She's one of those exceptions of the kind of person who wants to move up to do good for her company.  But baby, she's gonna get eaten alive!  

Maybe I should show her my pyramid chart...  Better yet, maybe I should show it to those guys doing the study!

See the link below for the study article. 

Talk about it: Why do YOU think bullies, jerks or incompetent people get promoted in the workplace?