InformationWeek's Geekend: Ship of Fools Edition

NEW YORK, Oct. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- You know the type: The guy in the office who walks around, talking about what a great job he's doing and how he's on the fast track for the next bonus. Yet his work is terrible, and he doesn't help anyone.

He's the office jerk.

Geekend author and professional office jerk hunter David Wagner is looking at what this type of person does to the office dynamic, and what it means for the company.

Based on new research from Newcastle University and the University of Exeter, Wagner finds that not only is the office know-it-all bad for the dynamic, but his or her personality can actually spread to others in the office, making the problem even worse.

In other words, those who exude confidence are often promoted and allowed to spread their behavior around, while the smarter and more talented are often ignored since they don't stand up for their own work and defer to the jerk in the next cubicle.

In containing the office jerk, Wagner suggests that upper management, such as the CIO, need to look at the totality of someone's work and not just go by the attitude and confidence a person used around the office.

Each week, Wagner takes an often humorous look at a variety of scientific studies about the convergence of technology and human behavior to see how we're changing our world, and how the world we built is changing us. This week, Wagner takes the office jerk down a notch. Check it out here.

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SOURCE InformationWeek