Robert I. Sutton
Fellowship year
2002-03 - Stanford University - Study 8
1994-95 - Stanford University - Study 31
1986-87 - Stanford University - Study 12
Faculty Fellow year
2024-25 - Stanford University
2023-24 - Stanford University
Robert I. Sutton is an organizational psychologist and professor of management science and engineering, emeritus, at Stanford University. He studies leadership, innovation, organizational change, and workplace dynamics. Sutton has published over 200 articles, chapters, and case studies in scholarly and applied outlets. His main focus over the past decade is on scaling and leading at scale—how to grow organizations, spread good things (and remove bad things) in teams and organizations, and enhance performance, innovation, and well-being in organizations as they become larger, more complex, and older.
Sutton received his PhD in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan and has served on the Stanford faculty since 1983. At Stanford, Sutton is co-founder and former co-director of the Center for Work, Technology and Organization, co-founder of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, and co-founder of the “d.school,” a multi-disciplinary program that helps people, teams, and organizations reach their creative potential. He has served on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly publications, and as an editor for the Administrative Science Quarterly and Research in Organizational Behavior.
Sutton has published eight books and two edited volumes. These include The Knowing-Doing Gap (with Jeffrey Pfeffer) (Harvard Business School Press, 2000), Weird Ideas That Work, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense (with Jeffrey Pfeffer) (Harvard Business Review Press, 2006), The No Asshole Rule (A New York Times bestseller) (Business Plus, 2007), Good Boss, Bad Boss (A New York Times bestseller) (Balance, 2012), Scaling-Up Excellence (with Huggy Rao, a Wall Street Journal bestseller) (Crown Publishing, 2014) and The Asshole Survival Guide (Harper Business, 2018). Sutton and Huggy Rao’s latest book is The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder (St. Martin’s Press, 2024). It unpacks insights from their a seven-year project that used academic research, case studies, classes and workshops, and ongoing dialog with scholars, executives, and innovators to learn how smart organizations remove bad friction and inject good friction and do it without driving employees and customers crazy.
Sutton is currently a faculty fellow at CASBS, and was a fellow in 1986-87, 1994-95, and 2002-03. His personal website is bobsutton.net.
Tyler Books
| Book Cover | Book Title and link |
|---|---|
 | Cameron, Kim S. ed. Sutton, Robert I. ed. Whetten, David A. ed.. 1988. Readings in organizational decline :frameworks, research, and prescriptions. Cambridge MA: Ballinger Pub. Co. |
 | Sutton, Robert I.. 2007. The no asshole rule: building a civilized workplace and surviving one that isn't. New York: Warner Business Books |
 | Pfeffer, Jeffrey. Sutton, Robert I.. 2006. Hard facts, dangerous half-truths, and total nonsense: profiting from evidence-based management. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press |
Tyler Journal Articles
Ferraro, Fabrizio; Pfeffer, Jeffrey; Sutton, Robert I.; . 2005. Economics language and assumptions: How theories can become self-fulfilling. 30(1): 8-24. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2005.15281412
Sutton, Robert I.; . 1997. The Virtues of Closet Qualitative Research. 8(1): 97-106. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.8.1.97
Sutton, Robert I.; Staw, Barry M.; . 1995. What Theory is Not. 40(3): 371.
Randi, C., In, R. I. (1998). Clients as a source of enjoyment on the job : How hairstylists shape demeanor and personal disclosures . Advances in Qualitative Organization Research (Vol. 1, pp. 1–32).; . 1998. Clients as a source of enjoyment on the job : How hairstylists shape demeanor and personal disclosures .. 1(415): 1-32.
Hargadon, Andrew; Sutton, Robert I.; . 1997. Technology brokering and innovation in a product development firm. 42(4): 716-749. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2393655
Eisbach, Kimberly D.; Sutton, Robert I.; Principe, Kristine E.; . 1998. Averting Expected Challenges Through Anticipatory Impression Management: A Study of Hospital Billing. 9(1): 68-86. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.9.1.68
Sutton, Robert I.; Hargadon, Andrew; . 1996. Brainstorming groups in context: Effectiveness in a product design firm. 41(4): 685-718. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2393872
Sutton, Robert I.; . 1989. Reactions of Nonparticipants as Additional Rather than Missing Data: Opportunities for Organizational Research. 42(5): 423-439. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872678904200504
Sutton, Robert I.; . 1987. The Process of Organizational Death: Disbanding and Reconnecting. 32(4): 542. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2392883
Greenhalgh, Leonard; Lawrence, Anne T.; Sutton, Robert I.; . 1988. Determinants of Work Force Reduction Strategies in Declining Organizations. 13(2): 241-254. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1988.4306878
Sutton, Robert I.; Rafaeli, Anat; . 1988. Untangling the Relationship between Displayed Emotions and Organizational Sales: The Case of Convenience Stores. 31(3): 461-487. https://doi.org/10.5465/256456
Rafaeli, Anat; Sutton, Robert I.; . 1987. Expression of Emotion as Part of the Work Role. 12(1): 23-37. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4306444
Sutton, Robert I.; Callahan, Anita L.; . 1987. The Stigma of Bankruptcy: Spoiled Organizational Image and Its Management. 30(3): 405-436. https://doi.org/10.5465/256007
Sutton, Robert I.; Louis, Meryl Reis; . 1987. How Selecting and Socializing Newcomers Influences Insiders. 26(3): 347-361. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.3930260304
Sutton, Robert I.; Rafaeli, Anat; . 1987. Characteristics of Work Stations as Potential Occupational Stressors. 30(2): 260-276. https://doi.org/10.5465/256273
Sutton, Robert I.; D'Aunno, Thomas; . 1989. Decreasing Organizational Size: Untangling the Effects of Money and People. 14(2): 194-212. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4282091
Louis, Meryl Reis; Sutton, Robert I.; . 1991. Switching Cognitive Gears: From Habits of Mind to Active Thinking. 44(1): 55-76. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679104400104