4 ms·

The incompetence of this kind of character seems obvious in retrospect but I've found if you've only ever worked with competent people it's dangerously easy to

The incompetence of this kind of character seems obvious in retrospect but I've found if you've only ever worked with competent people it's dangerously easy to miss these guys. I worked with someone similar a decade ago. I found myself thinking "This guy seems completely clueless but management likes him (and they're smart guys!). He MUST have a great track record -- how else would he have gotten this job? I guess I just don't know sales..." Management's idea was "He costs us just a tiny bit in salary and if only one of his big ideas takes off we'll be rich!". Of course, none of Clueless Sales Guy's 'big ideas' went anywhere and correcting his constant PR errors drained resources from those of us who had at least half a clue. Sometimes you can correctly judge people at first handshake, but I've found myself over-estimating the competence of far too many people based upon the context I've met them in.

mechanical_fish 18y ago
The incompetence of this kind of character seems obvious in retrospect but I've found if you've only ever worked with competent people it's dangerously easy to miss these guys. This reminds me of one of my all-time favorite PG lines: I've found that people who are great at something are not so much convinced of their own greatness as mystified at why everyone else seems so incompetent.
- ardit33 18y ago
  There are things that I asume/take for granted other people know, and sometimes I am suprised when they say "oh, wow, I didn't know that". Really? The older I get, the more I get this kind of response from other people, which might mean I am acumulating some kind of knowledge, but still it has failed to register on me exactly how much more I do know from other people, so this also has kept my ego in check.
- tdavis 18y ago
  One of my favorite quotes; it's so true.
DougBTX 18y ago
"The difference between madness and genius is measured only by success."
- pg 18y ago
  That's not true. In most cases you don't have to wait to see the outcome to distinguish between them.

mechanical_fish 18y ago

The incompetence of this kind of character seems obvious in retrospect but I've found if you've only ever worked with competent people it's dangerously easy to miss these guys. This reminds me of one of my all-time favorite PG lines: I've found that people who are great at something are not so much convinced of their own greatness as mystified at why everyone else seems so incompetent.

ardit33 18y ago
There are things that I asume/take for granted other people know, and sometimes I am suprised when they say "oh, wow, I didn't know that". Really? The older I get, the more I get this kind of response from other people, which might mean I am acumulating some kind of knowledge, but still it has failed to register on me exactly how much more I do know from other people, so this also has kept my ego in check.
tdavis 18y ago
One of my favorite quotes; it's so true.

DougBTX 18y ago

"The difference between madness and genius is measured only by success."

pg 18y ago
That's not true. In most cases you don't have to wait to see the outcome to distinguish between them.