Incompetence is the New Competence
Seems that Seth Godin has a habit of turning conventional wisdom on its ear. One of the blurbs in “Small is the New Big” is a bit about how competent people have trouble dealing with change and moving quickly. A quick google search turned up the article on Fast Company that appears to be the original publication of this Godin gem.
This is somewhat painful to hear because I think he’s onto something, and because–I must confess–I’m all too often obsessed with competence. But also because as I quickly scan my memory of various exceptional change agents that I’ve encountered in my life, many of them are notably “incompetent” in the Godin sense of the term. Yet brilliant.
This is a strange paradox, don’t you think? Some people who haven’t bothered to spend time understanding what they are doing move faster than others who do. Or, put a bit differently, they have a habit of not letting their lack of understanding slow them down.
So what’s the difference between a fool, and someone who is simply Brilliantly Incompetent?