Incompetence

Timmy discusses Ritchie again. However it is one of the comments that caught my attention. AntiCitizenOne refers to this Wikipedia page on the Dunning-Kruger effect.

The Dunning–Kruger effect is an example of cognitive bias in which “people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it”.[1] They therefore suffer an illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average. This leads to a perverse result where less competent people will rate their own ability higher than relatively more competent people. It also explains why actual competence may weaken self-confidence because competent individuals falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding. “Thus, the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others.”[1]

Competence and competence management systems are what I deal with in my daily work, so this fascinates me. I’ve seen it in action. I am also reminded of a quote from a former manager of mine who, when I pointed out that I felt out of my depth on one occasion, remarked that the definition of a competent person is someone who knows when they they aren’t.

Just thought I’d share.

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