The Scientific Guide to Your Idiotic Boss
We’ve all had ‘em: those moronic bosses whose climbs to power are more baffling than Ashton Kutcher’s popularity on Twitter. So why the hell were they ever promoted?
It seems to be a universal disconnect: The guy running the office is never as smart as the people beneath him. I mean, how many times have you had a boss who actually seemed qualified for his job?
That age-old irritation inspired scientists to embark on a massive study of organizational hierarchies. The crew, from Italy’s Universita di Catania, wanted to determine why so many ineffective bosses — we’ll call them Lumberghs — have risen to prominence in the workforce, despite their all-too-apparent shortcomings. What they found may explain a lot about the guy who signs your checks.
Most people are promoted, the researchers say, because they perform well at some lower-level job. The assumption, then, is that they’ll consequently perform well at a higher-level position, too. But that logic may be flawed.
“Individuals will be promoted until they reach their level of maximum incompetence,” the MIT Technology Review explains. “The unavoidable result is the runaway spread of incompetence throughout an organization.”
The study (which notably did not have a proper cover sheet attached) suggests a couple of strategies to combat the lousy leader problem. The most surprising one entails promoting a company’s least competent individuals — a tactic that, believe it or not, was found to be more effective than moving up only star performers. We here at eSarcasm have decided to adopt this method and see how it works for ourselves.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to start moving into my new corner office.
Tweet
Get fresh geek humor delivered daily: RSS | E-Mail | Twitter | Widgets
