Point Lookout: a free weekly publication of Chaco Canyon Consulting
Volume 25, Issue 19;   May 7, 2025: Subject Matter Bullying

Subject Matter Bullying

by

Most workplace bullying tactics have analogs in the schoolyard — isolation, physical attacks, name-calling, and extortion are common examples. Subject matter bullying might be an exception, because it requires expertise in a sophisticated knowledge domain. And that's where trouble begins.
A dramatization of a mobbing incident

A dramatization of a mobbing incident. Such scenes are rare in real life in knowledge-based organizations. This image is more useful as a depiction of the emotional experiences of the people involved as perpetrators, abettors, or targets in a bullying situation in which mobbing is a factor.

Image (cc) Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license by Jessicalyss courtesy Wikimedia

Workplace bullying is any aggressive behavior associated with work and intended to cause physical or psychological harm to another. [Brenner 2025.2] Subject matter bullying is a special kind of (usually workplace) bullying. Someone might be engaged in subject matter bullying when the intended harm inflicted on the target is a loss of social status, or denial of social status, with respect to the community concerned with the subject matter. For example, in the course of a debate among data architects about the causes of an database anomaly, subject matter bullying might be occurring when one participant engages in an ad hominem attack on another in order to reorient the debate toward criticisms of the target's favored architectural approach.

In this description, the phrase might be occurring is doing a lot of work. In subject matter bullying, the distinction between bullying and passionate debate can be subtle. One clarifying guideline is that in bullying, the advocates seek to advance their arguments by intentionally harming their debate opponents.

Perpetrators employ the tactics of subject matter bullying not merely to advance their own social status, though that is often a result. The primary motive of subject matter bullying, like all bullying, is inflicting harm on the target.

Identifying subject matter bullying

Identifying bullying in the workplace is sometimes difficult, because perpetrators use a variety of ploys to disguise their bullying. [Brenner 2010] But distinguishing subject matter bullying from ordinary work can be far more difficult than distinguishing other forms of bullying from ordinary work, for at least three reasons.

A degree of subject matter mastery is required
The debates within the community of a field of knowledge can be deep. Just understanding those debates can require a level of mastery many never attain. Distinguishing subject matter bullying from ordinary work can sometimes require a level of mastery beyond understanding the debates that arise in ordinary work.
Near the heart of the difficulty is the fact that the subject matter of subject matter bullying is the same as the subject matter of ordinary work. In other kinds of workplace bullying the subject matter might differ from the subject of ordinary work. It might be how privileges are granted, or what work is assigned. In subject matter bullying, the harm inflicted is much closer to the subject of the work. For example, the harm might be rejection in a humiliating manner of the target's idea for solving the problem at hand.
Contextual factors beyond the here and now can be significant
To fully appreciate the dynamics of subject matter bullying, a thorough grasp of contextual factors can be necessary. Knowing the past history of the relationships between bully and target (or between the allies of each) can affect whether or not we perceive an interaction as bullying. [Pinto, et al. 2023] Likewise, knowledge of the past history of the ideas espoused by perpetrator and target can also determine whether or not we perceive a given interaction as bullying.
For example, in a debate about the merits of the current design of a system, the perpetrator might sarcastically comment, "Although this design is fundamentally atrocious, the prototype didn't detonate when we first energized it." This might sound like nothing more than a wry comment, but when we know that the target's concept did detonate when first energized, the comment is more clearly a nasty attack.
Mobbing and collaborating can be isomorphic
In the context of bullying, the term mobbing refers to "concerted effort by a group of employees to isolate a co-worker through ostracism and denigration." [Denenberg & Braverman 2001] [Sloan, et al. 2010] But "concerted effort" is the essence of collaboration, which is the engine that drives development of knowledge in all fields. In the knowledge workplace, collaborations form and dissolve frequently. Some are actually virtual, in the sense that their members might meet only rarely in person.
Given this high level of structural fluidity, collaboration formation and dissolution can be a sign of a healthy community associated with a given field of knowledge. But such a social structure is also subject to mobbing. Secret conversations are easily arranged. Excluding, isolating, or expelling individuals is easily accomplished. Distinguishing mobbing from collaboration requires intimate knowledge of the group's communications.

Last words

Because inflicting harm on the target is at the center of any bullying, we can more easily recognize subject matter bullying if we first try to identify the person harmed. In subject matter bullying, the harm is expressed in terms of the target's loss of stature in the community that surrounds and supports the subject matter. Go to top Top  

101 Tips for Targets of Workplace BulliesIs a workplace bully targeting you? Do you know what to do to end the bullying? Workplace bullying is so widespread that a 2014 survey indicated that 27% of American workers have experienced bullying firsthand, that 21% have witnessed it, and that 72% are aware that bullying happens. Yet, there are few laws to protect workers from bullies, and bullying is not a crime in most jurisdictions. 101 Tips for Targets of Workplace Bullies is filled with the insights targets of bullying need to find a way to survive, and then to finally end the bullying. Also available at Apple's iTunes store! Just . Order Now!

Footnotes

Comprehensive list of all citations from all editions of Point Lookout
[Brenner 2025.2]
Richard Brenner. "Workplace Bullying: Power," Point Lookout blog, April 9, 2025. Available here. Back
[Brenner 2010]
Richard Brenner. "Covert Bullying," Point Lookout blog, January 13, 2010. Available here. Back
[Pinto, et al. 2023]
Hugo Pinto, Jorge André Guerreiro, and Manuel Fernández-Esquinas. "Sources of knowledge in the firm: a review on influential, internal and contextual factors in innovation dynamics," SN Business & Economics 3:2 (2023), 57. Available here. Retrieved 21 April 2025. Back
[Denenberg & Braverman 2001]
Richard V. Denenberg and Mark Braverman. The violence-prone workplace: A new approach to dealing with hostile, threatening, and uncivil behavior, Cornell University Press, 2001. Back
[Sloan, et al. 2010]
Lacey M. Sloan, Tom Matyok, Cathryne L. Schmitz, and Glenda F. Lester Short. "A story to tell: Bullying and mobbing in the workplace," International Journal of Business and Social Science 1:3 (2010). Available here. Retrieved 21 April 2025. Back

Your comments are welcome

Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrenDJpmhgyaDTwBQXkhner@ChacmGoYuzfZpOvDQdRkoCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.

About Point Lookout

This article in its entirety was written by a 
          human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Workplace Bullying:

A polar bear, feeding, on landResponding to Threats: III
Workplace threats come in a variety of flavors. One class of threats is indirect. Threateners who use the indirect threats aim to evoke fear of consequences brought about not by the threatener, but by other parties. Indirect threats are indeed warnings, but not in the way you might think.
A captive zebra of the species Equus quagga (plains zebra)How Targets of Bullies Can Use OODA: I
Most targets of bullies just want the bullying to stop, but most bullies don't stop unless they fear for their own welfare if they continue the bullying. To end the bullying, targets must turn the tables.
A P-14 lady beetle devours a pea aphidWorkplace Bullying and Workplace Conflict: II
Of the tools we use to address toxic conflict, many are ineffective for ending bullying. Here's a review of some of the tools that don't work well and why.
A human marionetteManipulators Beware
When manipulators try to manipulate others, they're attempting to unscrupulously influence their targets to decide or act in some way the manipulators prefer. But some targets manage to outwit their manipulators.
Tim Murphy, official photo for the 112th CongressStrategies of Verbal Abusers
Verbal abuse at work has special properties, because it takes place in an environment in which verbal abuse is supposedly proscribed. Yet verbal abuse does happen at work. Here are three strategies abusers rely on to avoid disciplinary action.

See also Workplace Bullying and Workplace Bullying for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Grissom, White, and Chaffee in front of the launch pad containing their AS-204 space vehicleComing May 14: Working with the Overconfident
A cognitive bias known as the Overconfidence Effect causes us to overestimate the reliability of our judgments. Decisions we make based on those judgments are therefore suspect. But there are steps we can take to make our confidence levels more realistic, and thus make our decisions more reliable. Available here and by RSS on May 14.
A Strangler Fig in AustraliaAnd on May 21: Mismanaging Project Managers
Most organizations hold project managers accountable for project performance. But they don't grant those project managers control of needed resources. Nor do they hold project sponsors or other senior managers accountable for the consequences of their actions when they interfere with project work. Here's a catalog of behaviors worth looking at. Available here and by RSS on May 21.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenDJpmhgyaDTwBQXkhner@ChacmGoYuzfZpOvDQdRkoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

Reprinting this article

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Follow Rick

Send email or subscribe to one of my newsletters Follow me at LinkedIn Follow me at Bluesky, or share a post Subscribe to RSS feeds Subscribe to RSS feeds
The message of Point Lookout is unique. Help get the message out. Please donate to help keep Point Lookout available for free to everyone.
Technical Debt for Policymakers BlogMy blog, Technical Debt for Policymakers, offers resources, insights, and conversations of interest to policymakers who are concerned with managing technical debt within their organizations. Get the millstone of technical debt off the neck of your organization!
Go For It: Sometimes It's Easier If You RunBad boss, long commute, troubling ethical questions, hateful colleague? Learn what we can do when we love the work but not the job.
303 Tips for Virtual and Global TeamsLearn how to make your virtual global team sing.
101 Tips for Managing ChangeAre you managing a change effort that faces rampant cynicism, passive non-cooperation, or maybe even outright revolt?
101 Tips for Effective MeetingsLearn how to make meetings more productive — and more rare.
Exchange your "personal trade secrets" — the tips, tricks and techniques that make you an ace — with other aces, anonymously. Visit the Library of Personal Trade Secrets.
If your teams don't yet consistently achieve state-of-the-art teamwork, check out this catalog. Help is just a few clicks/taps away!
Ebooks, booklets and tip books on project management, conflict, writing email, effective meetings and more.