Friday, September 19, 2008

Competence

I've alluded several times to another blog I'm starting, one related to my real job. The last holdup is the blog's name, though since my goal is to blog like Seth Godin, maybe I'll just name it after me (no, not Vertical Man.)


Godin is my favorite business blogger.  He takes the smallest, everyday situation and finds long-term truths hidden inside.  In a recent post titled "The Small Minded Vision of the Technological Elite," Godin makes the point that "...competence is not the same as imagination."  

Riffing on the same theme in a recent article for Fast Company magazine, Godin writes about arriving at...

"...a big insight into what competence is. Competent people have a predictable, reliable process for solving a particular set of problems. They solve a problem the same way, every time. That's what makes them reliable. That's what makes them competent.

"Competent people are quite proud of the status and success that they get out of being competent. They like being competent. They guard their competence, and they work hard to maintain it....

"...(But) in fact, competence is the enemy of change!

"Competent people resist change. Why? Because change threatens to make them less competent. And competent people like being competent. That's who they are, and sometimes that's all they've got. No wonder they're not in a hurry to rock the boat."


Yep.  Not only are they in no hurry to rock the boat, they're busily throwing overboard those who might.

UPDATE:  I rejected an otherwise-worthy comment from an anonymous commenter cuz it contained my real last name.  Sorry.  I won't mind the other blog being linked to my real name, but this one is where I say the things the REAL Vertical Man should rightly hesitate before hitting that 'publish' key.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

OK- I'll say it again and leave your real name out of it.

My comment was something like:

Oh! For you competency freaks out there, NOTHING is constant
but Change! Get use to it!