Are you as good as you think?
An intelligent person knows that they are never as good as they think. They listen, rather than just talk when engaging with others, and they often engage the philosophy that there is always more they can learn to be better at the things that they need to be good at. If it's sport, they know that practice is essential, not just turning up on the day. Not too dissimilar to the workforce, actually.
The question I pose to you is; "Are you as good as you think?"
The question I pose to you is; "Are you as good as you think?"
Most of us are not, yet we don't know it. We think we are really good at things and in particularly our work capabilities, yet we suck and we need improvement. Our own self belief has set us all up for disappointment.
But this is mainly a Western problem, not a universal one. Westerners are more likely to suffer from incompetence than non-Westerners. The problem is many of us suffer from incompetence at our jobs, but we don't have the capacity to know we are incompetent.
Last year, a senior marketing manager passed me a marketing strategy that they had written. It was the standard of one of our marketing interns who had just completed their University studies, but definitely not the standard of our organisation, or that of a marketing manager. That person is no longer with Marketing Eye, but it is a clear example of how people in general have a tendency to overrate their own performance, and in turn, believe it to the point of delusion.
I don't blame a person who can't write a marketing strategy when they are a marketing manager. Perhaps, somehow they have been put into that position without anyone actually teaching them how to be a marketing manager. Maybe they were more a "manager" or more a people person and climbed into the role with the big title just based on the fact that they were likeable.
But this problem is inherent in many organisations. People go into performance appraisals believing that they have done a really good job, and are bitterly disappointed by the fact that they need to work on their competency in a few areas of their jobs.
There is also the issue of whether or not many areas where people show incompetence is subjective and cannot be measured by formal tools. People tend to think they "know themselves" when in fact they don't at all. Accurate feedback is rare particularly in the workplace where bosses are forced to be careful with words they choose when giving feedback. Employees are playing havoc in the workplace using constructive feedback to their own advantage and turning it around by using words like "bullying" or "anxiety" to their advantage. So constructive feedback is all of a sudden something for the brave, or those who really care about the person they are giving it to, or the business as a whole.
What these two terms are doing to the modern workplace is a discussion that most entrepreneurs have with each other. Who wants employees that can look you in the eye and lie - without batting an eyelid, simply because they have taught themselves to believe in what they are saying?
The truth of the matter is that employees are shooting themselves in the foot. They are missing the point, and may go through life being average, rather than exceptional. They will never run their own business, because they know that the havoc they have played on others in their careers is something that will one day come back to bite them.
While I don't like "outing people", I did smile the other day when an entrepreneur told me about an employee blacklisting site where you can put the names of employees who have done things that are wrong, illegal, not fulfilled a contract, or ended on a bad note. While I may smile at this, I am also concerned as to what the world has become and would much rather go back to the days of our parents era where a handshake is as good as any contract.
Maybe it will have its full circle, but if you suffer from incompetence, and we all do in some areas of our lives, instead of choosing to ignore it or not believe it - do something about it. Don't ignore it. Be the best version of yourself that you can be.
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comments ( 10 )
chris
17 Apr 2017Thaks for posting such classic information.
Replyshaun
04 Apr 2017Definitely an intelligent person never listens more rather than speaking.
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ReplyChristina Ruf
12 Feb 2016„What goes around comes around“
ReplySelf-deception is indeed one of the biggest obstacles of the modern individual.
The society expects from the individual and from itself perfection in such a redundant nonchalance that it has evolved to be our new "normal" and we tend too easily to pretend being normal.
Maybe normality in itself is a lie and thus I agree with your statement that we should try to be exceptional rather than normal. For sure it is not easy to find our best selves but we should at least try.
A interesting thought...
To answer your question, I think, because I have chosen a path in which I am really interested in I do not decept myself.
Best regards.