I hesitated writing this post. This is because questions suddenly jumped into my mind.
- Will I keep on writing better posts to eventually be unable to match my previous level? This invited another question.
- Would readers feel the quality of my writing dropping and so they would desert reading my posts?
This reminded me of the “paradox of incompetence”. Laurence J. Peter questioned a similar issue about organizations. He asked if promoting employees to higher levels would eventually lead to the promotion of disqualified employees. Being promoted into incompetence can lead to a decline in the performance of the organization.
The adage says practice makes perfect. Maybe practicing the same activity, such as writing, may lead to boredom and, hence, a drop in writing quality.
Incompetence has many faces, such as emotional incompetence, social incompetence, and weaponized. Or deceptive incompetence.
Emotional incompetence is the inability to understand others’ feelings and making the wrong interpretations of what they feel. This may lead to conflicts.
Social incompetence leads to isolation and the preference to be alone. If a team member has this feeling, he shall tend to shy away from discussions even though he may have great ideas to share. This is a kind of imposter syndrome and its effects.
Weaponized incompetence has other names, but in principle, this is a cunning one. It involves the false claim that one cannot do a certain job, so others do it instead.
I have to admit I have been guilty of this while doing my PhD work. Five post-graduate students agreed to cook, in turn, a domestic meal from their country each Sunday. I excused myself, for I said I do not know how to cook. They said no problem, then you wash the dishes. I agreed, until one day, the four of them went late to a movie. I was very hungry and so decided to cook a quick domestic meal. As I was just about to start eating, my mates walked into the kitchen. They tasted the food, and they loved it. They decided to eat most of it as a punishment for me. I had then to cook for them for several Sundays they and they do the washing. I had to comply. I paid the price of my deceptive incompetence.
Self-incompetence has many terrible side effects. It includes self-punishment. It evaporates self-confidence, and one doubts his skills and abilities. This may prevent him from taking challenges and facing obstacles. It limits his growth. He refrains from social life and avoids discussions for fear he might be mocked. It leads to self-stagnation.
Incompetence can be costly. The sooner we deal with it, the better we become.
Incompetence causes a lot of damage, on an individual level and also on an organizational and social level (in any community).
During a trip with my direct superior, he noticed that I was carrying some texts on corporate budget analysis and told me that I had to be focused on my current job rather than “thinking about the future”. I replied that I had to make sense of my growth expectations.
Here, awareness of one’s limits (I only had legal knowledge) and continuous training are the strategies to be ready when the opportunity for growth presents itself.
Obviously, on an organizational level, if you don’t want to bring an incompetent person into a certain role, the company must worry about promoting not only for the results but also evaluating the professional suitability of the person being promoted.
I believe this would be especially important in the political area to create future competent governors to avoid damage to the community they will have to administer.
Aldo Delli Paoli Your story tells a lot about you my friend.
You focused on the present but this did not stop you from thinking about your future.
This is reflected in the high quality of your comment.
Incompetence can cause significant damage to individuals, organizations, and communities.
To avoid incompetent individuals, companies should focus on their current job and develop strategies for growth. That is exactly what you did for yourself.
Awareness of limits and continuous training are essential for growth.
Promoting competent individuals is crucial for organizational success and avoiding damage to the community. This is especially important in political areas. I have seen this where sons inherited the leading position of a country and the damage they caused to it as what happened in Syria.
Great comment my friend. Thank you