And the text arrives. While you're in the bath. Getty Images

Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.

Every CEO has his or her way.

Some people respond to that way. And some think it's the way of the Beelzebub family.

Please decide what you think of what Erika Nardini does to test potential employees.

She's the CEO of Barstool Sports, a website that features headlines such as "The New Star of Doctor Who Is a Female and Everyone Reacted How You'd Expect," as well as "Barstool U Monday Smokeshow--Megan from Oswego."

Yes, right next to each other.

The New York Times wanted to know a little about her management style.

"I get a ton of feedback. I think I'm punishing. I have a large ability to grind," she said.

She also claimed to be a horrible, impatient interviewer. However, she noted that part of her interview process was to do something that many might find admirable.

And many might find a touch sad.

"Here's something I do," she said, "if you're in the process of interviewing with us, I'll text you about something at 9 p.m. or 11 a.m. on a Sunday just to see how fast you'll respond."

Oh. Ah. How inventive. Yes, that should show how interested a candidate is.

Indeed, I can feel you're already excited. How much time, you're wondering, does a potential Barstoolian have before he or she falls foul of expected behavior?

"Within three hours," Nardini told the Times. "It's not that I'm going to bug you all weekend if you work for me, but I want you to be responsive. I think about work all the time. Other people don't have to be working all the time, but I want people who are also always thinking."

Wittgensteinians, Russellites and even, perhaps Chopraphiliacs will muse: "But if I'm thinking about work, aren't I working?"

And even: "If I'm supposed to be constantly responsive, won't I stop responding to other areas of, say, life?"

Of course, when Nardini's words were committed to the internet, there was reaction.

"Hey everyone, don't ever work for someone like this. Their dumb app or site should never be the most important thing in your life," tweeted Susan Fowler, the woman whose revelations about Uber's corporate culture led to the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick.

"So basically you are a horrible boss that doesn't understand how to manage people. Got it," mused Pinterest's Erik Gomez.

Oddly, Barstool Sports was a little defensive about the reaction--in its own humorous way, of course.

Of its critics, the site huffed: "These are the same people who whine and moan that we are too successful and it's a black mark on society that we continue to grow and make money while other real journalists get laid off. Apparently, they don't see the connection between working hard and success?"

I worry.

Working hard isn't quite the same thing as being your boss's pooch. And success, well, whose measure would you like to use?

Wittgenstein, Russell, and Chopra are already on their third beer and they've barely got past defining what a measure is.

You might conclude, though, that Nardini is offering a pleasantly crude level of emotional intelligence here.

She may well be learning something about her potential employees with her nastily-timed texts. But she's also telling them something about herself.

You can like it. You can even admire it.

Or you can mutter: "Please why don't you shove your silly job far beyond the extremities of Mars and travel out there to see it, while continuously thinking about your so-called sports website. There will be a test when you get there. If you get there."

At least, though, Nardini doesn't seem to be creating false expectations.

In almost every job interview I've been forced to perform, I've been filled with vast mounds of mendacity.

I only learned when I took some of the jobs quite how high the mounds were.

By then, it was a little late.