Bartleby’s Boss Syndrome
July 13, 2008 by Todd Miller
Bartleby’s Boss Syndrome is a form of cognitive dissonance, named after the narrator from Herman Melville’s 1853 short-story, “Bartleby, The Scrivener“. In the story, the narrator hires a man named Bartleby to work in his law-firm. Although things start well, by the end Bartleby is refusing to do any work at all, always responding that he, “would prefer not too”. Throughout the story, the narrator, Bartleby’s Boss, is unable to bring himself to do anything about Bartleby, although it is clear that Bartleby is a detriment to his business. Eventually, the narrator physically moves their entire firm into a new building, thinking that leaving Bartleby behind will ’solve the problem’, which it does not.
When it is determined that an Affiliate or Partner that was perceived to have a high degree of Marketing Power is, unfortunately, not compliant, Bartleby’s Boss Syndrome can, at times, occur - the temporary inability to react to the situation. At those times, it is important to remember that; non-compliance negates all perceived Marketing Power and the Compliance Effect Theory can restore “lost” Marketing Power.
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