Incompetent people hate transparency

When you work with people that are less than competent, it is very hard to get definitive proof that they are doing a poor job.

Remember that most people think they are above average at their jobs (see this).

If  there is definitive proof that they can't do their job then you are dealing with a situation where political will keeps them in power.

That is because people that are less than competent and know that they are incompetent, understand that the primary way that they will keep their jobs is through:

• Making it difficult to measure what they are doing
• Plausible deniability when things are poorly done
• Being friends with people with political power

With  few exceptions, incompetence is simply the result of ignorance.  Effort by the unskilled person together with proper training and mentoring is generally all it takes to become competent.  Some people recognize this and make an effort to become competent.

Competence simply requires effort and training.

Sometimes the lack of proper measurement can have people thinking that they are doing a good job when they are not.  There are many office jobs that are difficult to measure properly and where the primary feedback about your work comes from other people.  This is very dangerous because we all have biases and getting unbiased feedback from a manager or co-worker is next to impossible.

It is difficult to find someone who is incompetent at everything, although I'm sure these people exist.  Rather, what happens is that competent people end up in jobs where they are less than competent, e.g. through promotion and seniority.

Because our desires are essentially infinite, people gravitate towards the highest paying job that they feel that they can hold down.  Unfortunately, that means that people will try to get into jobs that they don't have competence for simply because they want the salary associated wih that job.

We all have  desires and so we seek higher paying jobs.

If someone desires a greater salary than their skill level then they are unlikely to give it up when they discover that they have trouble doing the job.  The only way to keep that job is to make sure that other people can't get definitive feedback that they can't do the job.

When there are unbiased and independent ways to measure the quality of performance then incompetent people are exposed.  The only way for an incompetent person to thrive in an environment is for it to be difficult to measure anything that they do.  If they miss a commitment or work is done in an inadequate fashion then they will have a plausible reason why this is so.

Competent people do not make excuses for poorly done work

Incompetent people do not think of themselves as incompetent.  They feel that they have the same right to things that everyone else does and will often push issues with their performance onto other people.  Another issue is that competent people dislike incompetent people and tend to get very angry.  However, when competent people get angry the incompetent person only sees the anger and not what you are angry about. Being angry with an incompetent person is what enables them to use management and other people's opinions against you.

Exposing Incompetent People

The method of exposing incompetent people is simple, however, it will not apply to every situation.  In particular, do not try to expose an incompetent person if they are politically better connected than you are; all that will happen is that you will lose your job.

You need to be able to do the following:

1. Introduce transparency and unbiased measures
2. Offer training to the incompetent person
3. Don't be angry at the incompetent person
4. Do not talk poorly about the incompetent person

By introducing unbiased measures you enable transparency which then shines a light into what is going on. Unbiased measurement will make it clear in an independent way that that person is unable to do their job.

Offer to train the incompetent person.  You would be surprised how often people have no idea that they are doing a bad job.  Don't assume that they know, show them the results of the unbiased measures and indicate what the problem is.  Ignorant people will generally be surprised and try to do something about it; incompetent people will not.

Don't be angry at the incompetent person -- and this is very important.  When you are angry it affects your entire being and will manifest in all your interactions.  In particular, management will see the conflict between you and the incompetent person as a personality conflict and you will become as much of a problem as the incompetent person.

Do not talk poorly about the incompetent person, not to any one.  This will become office gossip and will also be a one way ticket to being labeled as trouble.  Do not mention this to people that you are friendly with or trust in the office, they probably already know and do not want to hear it.

Conclusion

We have all had to work with people that are less than competent.  Where possible by the introduction of transparency through unbiased measurement and by not getting angry and gossiping you can eventually expose the problem.

The other side of the coin is that you should be aware of your own levels of competence.  If you find that you are less than transparent in many of the things that you are doing then you might need to take a hard look at yourself and then get some training.  We should all be continually looking at ourselves in the mirror and working to improve ourselves.