DUNNING KRUGER EFFECT

The Rise of the Incompetent and the Fall of the Qualified

An important  principles that rules much of what we do in life, whether it’s at work or at play, is the Dunning-Kruger effect. It especially dominates in leadership circles.

The Dunning-Kurger effect sounds can be explained as this: “People with low skills make wrong conclusions and make unsuccessful decisions but are unable to realize their mistakes because of their low skills.”

Taking a deeper dive, it states that often a person – think of some of the leaders you know – don’t understand the mistakes that they’re making, and this actually bolsters their confidence in themselves and in the decisions they’re making, and gives them a sense of superiority over others.

The Dunning-Kruger effect goes further….it is a psychological paradox because less competent people consider themselves to be highly proficient, and those who are more competent and able to make better leaders, doutb themselves and their capabilities. With the first case, the over-inflated leader, the lower the competence, the higher the self confidence. Sadly with the latter case,  the lower self esteem, the more doubtful the person is his or her capabilities, the lower their self confidence becomes, and the less likely they are to put themselves forward for leadership consideration.

In their research Dunning and Kruger recall Charles Darwin’s famous quote:
“Ignorance breeds confidence more often than knowledge”

…and also Bertran Russell:
“One of the unpleasant qualities of our time is that those who are confident are stupid, and those who have at least some imagination and understanding are fulfilled with doubt and indecision.”

By Tamakkan Braintrust