To minimize the impact of horrible bosses, companies can ensure that performance reviews are based

on objective measures, not subjective ones. They can examine tasks and workloads for relevance and
fairness. They can offer training to teach respectful behavior. They can police sexual harassment and
make flexibility a right. But formal processes go only so far. Employees sometimes find themselves
worse off when they use official complaint mechanisms.

The best cure for horrible bosses is alternative relationships and collaboration. Organizations that foster
strong, multidimensional relationships among colleagues weaken the control of a single autocratic boss.
They make it more likely that the sins of horrible bosses will be exposed to others who can stop them.

Groups caught in a horror show can end the misery by banding together to focus on goals and show
compassion for one another. Jane Dutton of the University of Michigan, a leader in the positive
psychology movement, has shown that simple gestures of caring can humanize the workplace and raise
levels of performance.