Stupid Never Knows It's Stupid

There is a difference between knowledge and intelligence. Knowledge is just the accumulation of information. Intelligence has to do with processing that information to achieve a result. This is a key point of the book "Executive Intelligence" by Justin Menekes. He uses the great analogy of a computer. The hard drive is equivalent to knowledge while the processor speed is linked to intelligence. The analogy I like to use when I'm working in Leadership Training conferences is from the martial arts (not surprisingly). In the martial arts, there are these guys who are extremely knowledgable about technique. They know every variation, every nuance and can impress you with the breadth of their knowledge. But the interesting thing is, very few of these "notebook warriors" can actually fight. They may know 150 defenses from 12 different martial arts against a straight right punch but in the fluid, dynamic and deceptive arena of an actual fight, they are relatively powerless. These guys look great in the practice hall where everything is controlled but they're decidely less impressive on the street.

According to Justing Menekes, it's not that different in the executive world. Proper decision making under pressure with limited information is the primary responsibility of the executive. Menekes shows how this is a lot more difficult than it seems and why finding A players is such a difficult task. Part of the reason is the many times, incompetence cannot recognize itself or when others are more competent. As the truism goes, A players hire A players while B players hire C players. Menekes cites the work done by Cornell psychologists Kruger and Dunning in their article, "Unskilled and Unaware of It." Their research was telling and quite startling. Apparently the lower someone is on the competence meter, the higher they think they actually are. People who scored in the 12th percentile generally placed themselves in the 62nd percentile. Nor were they able to recognize the superior thinking of others. I took this as validation for my stringent evaluation process in determining whether or not someone is a worthy conversation partner.

Menekes goes into his particular methodology for evaluating potential hires. It's clear he has something to promote. But at the same time, he raises some very good points and his work is well researched. He goes into brain physiology, psychology and education. He explains human tendencies. He has by far the most gentle manner of basically saying, "Some folks just aren't smart enough to do the job well and there's nothing they can do about it." Intellectual horsepower is genetic. You're given your allotment and that's it. Elitist? Maybe but that's probably why I liked it so much.

I remember having a conversation with a young lady once. We were discussing International Relations and having a difficult time at it. Finally I said that our disagreement was a matter of first principles. I saw the world as Hobbesian and she didn't. She replied, "I think it's really stupid of you to base your world view on a comic strip." She then shot me a withering, contemptuous and oh so superior smirk. I turned away to hide my smile as she continued to prattle on. I stopped listening. You can't tell stupid it's stupid. And it's pointless to try.