Conference Board: Coping with Incompetence

The article — titled "Can We Turn Back the Rising Tide of Incompetence?" — is the cover story of the debut issue of The Conference Board Review, which recently changed its name from Across the Board. The independent bimonthly magazine is published by The Conference Board.

What do we mean when we say someone is an incompetent?" asks Matthew Budman, managing editor of The Conference Board Review. "One definition: An incompetent is someone who is defined by his mistakes. Everyone makes the occasional error or bad decision or lapse in judgment. Most of them go unnoticed. But at some point, failure becomes the norm and even that person's defining characteristic."

Are workers more incompetent today than in the past? In general, probably yes. Budman writes: "There's no reason to think that people today are fundamentally less capable than their parents or grandparents, but more is demanded of white-collar workers every day — less in terms of the sheer amount of work than of different types of work. The working world is increasingly complex, and many of us regularly take on more responsibility for more things."

This is the inevitable result of improved technology — for instance, powerful word-processing software on every PC — and of organizational delayering. Departments and business units have ever-broader scopes and mandates but fewer warm bodies, meaning that every time there's a new project or initiative or team, the necessary commitment of time and energy gets added to someone's already-long to-do list. Everyone is expected to do a bit of everything. "Plus, there's the issue of multitasking, which can turn almost anyone into a forgetful blunderer," Budman writes.

Read complete story here.