I once knew a guy who had spent decades in investment banking and had climbed up the hierarchy but he was clueless about finance and deal-making.
I often wondered how he got there. My guess is that in many organizations, if you don’t antagonize the right people, a mix of luck, persistence, and grey hair can take you quite far.
And once you reach the upper echelons (MD, partner, etc.), your seniority becomes a shield for your ignorance. When in doubt, vacuous words like ‘strategic’ and ‘synergy’ bail you out. 😊
This is surprisingly common and can happen to any of us, if we aren’t careful.
But there’s a bigger question: how do people get trapped in such incompetence?
I can think of three reasons:
1. Complacency: When people get promoted just for being around and staying busy, they don’t realize they need to keep sharpening their skills. Like the mythical frog in boiling water, their ignorance keeps growing until at some point, they start feeling trapped.
2. Absence of a Beginner’s Mind: Once you become senior, it feels awkward to ask basic questions. Even, I experienced this early in my career—thankfully, I am more shameless now.
3. Rationalization: You tell yourself that competence doesn’t matter. For senior folks, “Who you know matters more than what you know.” This is true in some professions, but only up to a point. Ultimately, competence does matter. A lot.
But we can all escape this trap.
The recipe is simple — be curious about everything around you, until you understand things from first principles. Have a thick skin. Be shameless. And ask dumb questions.
– Rajan