“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge”

This quote is from Charles Dickens, and it relates to my favourite ‘find’ of the week, a study in which psychology catches up with Mr Dickens’ intuition.

I’m talking about the Dunning-Kruger effect, the phenomenon wherein people who have little knowledge think that they know more than others who have much more knowledge.

…and you know, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how interesting a problem it is for organizations. Unless a problem domain is explored within a team, there will always be a sub-optimized crossover point at which the more knowledgeable / skilled people in a group are  overwhelmed by the more ignorant / confident contingent.

I’ve also got a suspicion that there is some kind of link to the confidence / competence profiles of American presidents in there as well…  :o)

Have a great weekend!

—Jason Bates

Tags:  Dunning-Kruger, Ignorance, Project+Leadership
wikitags : [[wiki:beaufortes:cognitive_error]]