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Dunning-Krueger Effect and HR
Jan 3Wikipedia defines an effect we too often see in HR:
The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon wherein people who have little knowledge think that they know more than others who have much more knowledge.
I sometimes refer to the Dunning-Kruger Effect as “Everyone with a pen thinks he’s a communicator,” or, “Everyone is a compensation professional.” In HR we face this a lot — people who think they know more than they do.
Here’s what Wiki says about DKE:
Kruger and Dunning noted a number of previous studies which tend to suggest that in skills as diverse as reading comprehension, operating a motor vehicle, and playing chess or tennis, “ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge” (as Charles Darwin put it). They hypothesized that with a typical skill which humans may possess in greater or lesser degree,
- Incompetent individuals tend to overestimate their own level of skill.
- Incompetent individuals fail to recognize genuine skill in others.
- Incompetent individuals fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy.
- If they can be trained to substantially improve their own skill level, these individuals can recognize and acknowledge their own previous lack of skill.
Since performance review season is over, this article might be good to put away until next year. I’ll bring it out again. Ever try to talk to someone who thinks he’s fully competent when he’s barely adequate? That’s always a trick.
About the Author
Frank Roche
Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.
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“Ever try to talk to someone who thinks he’s fully competent when he’s barely adequate?”
I have these discussions with my children everyday. They are 6 and 9, and they are convinced they know more than I do on a regular basis.
Michelle
This appears to be the Cornell University study that the author of Ask a Manager referred to last November. It certainly is useful to have such well documented confirmation of what many of us have noted (although rarely about ourselves!) for so long.
Thanks for the referral to the Wikipedia source on the research – I look forward to hearing your take on this for the HR field – wish we didn’t have to wait so long for it, though!
Heading off the bad results of DKE is one of the jobs of supervisors. Set expectations, follow up, coach-counsel-correct-and-encourage, and repeat as needed. If supervisors do their job right, the chance of misperceptions is minimized and the documentation for dealing with the persistently
Somehow I only sent part of my post, so I’m trying again.
Heading off the bad results of DKE is one of the jobs of supervisors. Set expectations, follow up, coach-counsel-correct-and-encourage, and repeat as needed. If supervisors do their job right, the chance of misperceptions is minimized and the documentation for dealing with the persistently obtuse is maximized.
Although I have no empirical data to back it up, my experience tells me that DKE directly effects a terminated employee’s likelihood to file a charge of discrimination or lawsuit. The inability or unwillingness to accept an adverse employment action as one’s own responsibility leads to blame shifting to the organization or manager. Clear communication in performance reviews can mitigate the legal consequences of the employee’s perception; however, poor communication only serves to feed DKE and disadvantage the employer in defending employee claims.
I LOVE IT when random non-HR people try to tell me what is and isn’t legal in employment. I could write a book on this very topic.
That being said, I have met way too many HR professionals that have no idea what they are doing. A little bit of knowledge can be a scary thing.