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Dunning Kruger – Confidence is nothing to do with Competence!


 

70% of Digital Transformation initiatives fail to deliver on their business case!

It is worth pausing for though on why that might be.

I think it is largely related to the “Dunning Kruger” effect.

This phenomenon is, in my opinion, at the root of most of corporate failures. I would argue that it is us that are the limiting factor, not technology, or corporations or processes or anything else.

The answer might be, however, that some our plans are too ambitious for the level of planning we have invested!

Anyway, there are two reasons for sharing this short essay. 

1) This is an example of a type of cognitive bias that affects us all. I have observed it and experienced it personally. Don’t kid yourself this is about “other people” less competent than you.

2) This specific interpretation is an award winning essay by seventeen-year old Allison He, from the Texas Academy of Math and Science in Plano, Texas. This is a lesson to your entry level recruits, your own kids or anyone starting on this slippery ladder . . . . Seventeen !

I have added my own perspective in the synopsis below, but I encourage you to read the article, link below.

We ALL tend to overestimate our abilities and “reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices” without realizing it, which in turn, leads us to “hold inflated views of our performance and ability”

The hallmark of intelligence, according to Dunning, is being “good at knowing what we don’t know.”

You can read this 3 minute article here – it is worth it for both of the reasons stated above