The Dunning-Kruger Effect: Not knowing your limits

The hypothesized phenomenon known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect, was tested in a series of experiments performed by Justin Kruger and David Dunning, both then of Cornell University. 

Justin Kruger and David Dunning noted earlier studies suggesting that ignorance of standards of performance is behind a great deal of incompetence.

This pattern was seen in studies of skills as diverse as reading comprehension, operating a motor vehicle, and playing chess or tennis.

Kruger and Dunning proposed that, for a given skill, incompetent people will:

1. tend to overestimate their own level of skill;
2. fail to recognize genuine skill in others;
3. fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy;
4. recognize and acknowledge their own previous lack of skill, if they can be trained to substantially improve.

Dunning has since drawn an analogy ("the anosognosia of everyday life") to a condition in which a person who suffers a physical disability because of brain injury seems unaware of or denies the existence of the disability, even for dramatic impairments such as blindness or paralysis.

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Ubiquity of the “Impostor Syndrome”

Discussing complicated intellectual subjects with others often involves area’s of knowledge in which we feel uncertain or inadequate.

You and I would not be the only one to have a sense of not belonging when caught in such a situation, even when we are in fact experts in that particular field.

This feeling of being found out as an impostor who talks nonsense despite the fact that we are well schooled on the subject, is a widespread phenomenon called The Impostor Syndrome. Although a rather benign sort of mental aberration, it can severely hamper our confidence.

The Cambridge professor of physics Athene Donald has broached the subject eloquently in a blog post, discussing her experience of the phenomenon in the world of academia.

She noted that it seems mainly an issue woman seem to talk about openly, but she has now followed up with a second article showing there are also plenty of men experiencing these feelings, although they seem less inclined to identify them as genuine instances of Impostor Syndrome.

If you share the feeling of inadequacy in the presence of peers or when speaking as an authority in academic or other capacity, it may pay off to read the articles and realize that this is pretty common. It’s not unlike the notion of feeling our looks, smells or physical behaviour is inadequate compared to others.

Whilst in most cases, others share these feelings, probably at the same time.

The spiritual opposite of the Impostor Syndrome is called The Dunning-Kruger effect. This effect comes down to an obliviousness to our inabilities, causing those with minor to no skill to be unable to detect their lack of competence and hence value their ability much higher than it in practice is.

If you and your colleagues all wonder how how that supremely incompetent and dislikeable manager got that position in the fist place, it may simply be the Dunner-Kruger effect in action.

The person may lack the self-consciousness and skill to realize his or her capacities are minor and hence prances around with the confidence of kings, which can translate eventually to promotion over more skilled, but far less confident, collegues.

In short, the Impostor Syndrome shows us that even the most competent of people, academics of fair repute, experts in their field, can constantly have the nagging feeling they are inadequate compared to others.

All of which brings us to a wonderful quote from the great British philosopher Bertrand Russell:

“One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision”

Lack of Trust between Staff and Management

One in three workers have little or no trust in their management or senior managers, especially those in large public sector organisations, according to a new study.

A survey of 5,600 workers found that chief executives were significantly less trusted than line managers, with the level of mistrust increasing in larger companies.

The Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) and Management Today magazine said their research revealed that company bosses had to work very much harder to inspire trust in their staff.

Senior managers in local and national government and the media were the least trusted, while those in the charities and retail enjoyed higher levels of trust.

The two most important factors for chief executives were said to be ability and integrity, while line managers were expected to demonstrate understanding, fairness and integrity, said the report.