HWW #27 - Chris Haddad’s Theory Of Learned Incompetence
Hey Folks,
Welcome back to the hardworking words newsletter. Did you get your taxes in on time? Are you railing at “the man” for ripping cash out of your cold, clammy fingers? Well, how about you just sit back and relax with a cool and refreshing dose of hard-working words.
In today’s big issue, you’ll learn:
-Why 2007 is the year of the breakthrough. (You won’t learn why 2006 was the year of the wombat, but rest assured it was.)
-Why working hourly just don’t make no sense (err. Sort of. It’s a link.)
-All about the frightening power of Chris Haddad’s Theory of Learned Incompetence.
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2007 Is The Year Of The Breakthrough
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My good friend Lisa Haneberg has declared 2007 the year of the breakthrough. Lisa’s a charmer. She’s got great glasses, her book “Two Weeks To A Breakthrough” is a smooth interesting read, and she’s has a great way of explaining tough management concepts in easy-to understand bites. Check out her 6 minute video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0_tSgkvKlg and you can read her blog at http://www.2weeks2abreakthrough.com
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Why I Don’t Work Hourly–And Neither Should You
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I put a post on the Biznik blog about the rampant idiocy of working hourly. Check it out at http://biznik.com/blog/2007/04/09/why-i-dont-work-hourly-and-neither-should-you/
And now for the main course:
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Chris Haddad’s Theory Of Learned Incompetence
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Just after college I spent two long, brutal years slaving away in the pits of the Los Angeles entertainment industry. I discovered a lot in my time in LA. I discovered that I wasn’t cut out for 100 hour work weeks. I discovered that too much sunshine is as bad as not enough (and that while rain doesn’t cause cancer, it does cause big, messy accidents on the I-10.) I discovered that In ‘n Out Burger makes the best darned cheeseburger in the whole wide world (and that “Animal Style” is both messy and delicious.)
But the most important thing I discovered was my “Theory Of Learned Incompetence.”
You see, my last year in LA I had this boss named “Bob.” (Name changed because “Bob” was a pretty cool guy and I’d rather not make him feel bad.)
“Bob” was a smooth talking gay, Jewish guy from New York City who spent the big bulk of his work day surfing the net for porn. Not to say that “Bob” wasn’t good at his job. He could schmooze and deal like nobody’s business and taught me tons about how to deal with people.
The problem was that “Bob” couldn’t do anything *but* schmooze and deal.
* Answering the phone? Uh uh.
* Sending a fax? Better if he didn’t try. Toner is expensive, after all.
* Replying to an email, licking a stamp or figuring out how to set up the voicemail on his brand spanking new cell phone (he lost the last one on a trip to France)? Yea, uhh. Not gonna happen.
Now, what struck me about “Bob’s” utter, kindergarten-like incompetence was that at some point–on the way to landing his nice, cushy quarter-million a year gig–he *must* have learned how to do this stuff.
You see, in the entertainment industry, there’s a pretty strict ladder to climb. You start off way at the bottom as somebody’s assistant. You go through heck for a couple years fetching coffee, doing mindless admin stuff and trying to prove that you have “initiative.” And then if you’re lucky and tenacious you move your way up, get your own assistant, spend all your time chatting on the phone and surfing porn–and so the circle of Hollywood life continues.
So once upon a time, “Bob” knew how to use a copy machine.
Once upon a time, “Bob” knew how to put somebody on hold, get another call and then get back to the first person without accidentally calling the fire department.
Once upon a time, “Bob” was competent.
Until he learned that if he wanted to get ahead, he’d have to *learn* to become *incompetent.*
You see, in Hollywood (and, from what I’ve seen, in all of corporate America) if you know how to do something well, you’ll inevitably be roped into doing it again and again and again. In fact, if you’re too good at something (fixing the copy machine. Getting coffee. Preventing wars.) you tend to get tied down to that one thing while all the less competent folks around you get promoted.
So what do ambitious folks like “Bob” do?
Consciously or not, they *learn to be incompetent.*
They pour all their energy into developing a few core, useful, sellable skills and let everything else slough off and atrophy until the folks above them have absolutely no choice but to promote them.
“Bob keeps messing up the copy machine and we’re afraid if he keeps getting close to it it might explode” they say. “We’d better just get him out of there and give him that corner office.
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Nice Theory, Haddad, But What Does This Have To Do With Marketing?
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Just this. In my day to day life I run into a lot of new entrepreneurs and business owners–refugees from the corporate lifestyle–who haven’t quite woken up to the fact that while the theory of learned incompetence will help you get ahead in corporate America, it’s absolutely deadly when you’re out on your own.
When you’re stuck in the “ivory tower” you can forget how to do all sorts of stuff, knowing full well that the infrastructure of that big, fat company will take care of you.
But out in the real world, if you decide to forget how to work the copy machine, the copies don’t get made.
If you decide to forget how to answer the phone, there’s no one there to save you.
And if you decide to become incompetent at marketing . . . well, pretty soon you don’t have any sort of business at all.
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Haddad Ink., 230 14th Ave. E., #302, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
April 18th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Preach it brother!
I remember those days in the corporate world doing things that I was good at. Enjoying the sense of competency, and the joy of going deeper in the understanding of my particular field. And then there was smooze girl. She worked. She worked the system.
When she could not handle her job, instead of walking papers, she got an assistant to do her work for her. I saw this kind of bad behavior rewarded on a regular enough basis it began to make me wonder why planes don’t fall out of the sky more often, and that things in life generally work as well as they do.
I toyed with the idea of improving my level of incompetency, but it just did not have any juice for me. Just doomed to live my own vivid life I suppose. No corner offices for me, but the current view out my window is not bad!