Smart is Time-Specific
Yesterday’s smarts are today’s stupidity.
No one intentionally chooses stupid.
What looks smart behind your desk often looks stupid in the real world.
From Smart to Stupid
Brilliance becomes stupid when seasons change. What worked in the past tears you down in the present.
Promoting from within protects culture. It’s destructive when organizations congeal.
Short meetings drive decisions. They’re dangerous when they stifle dissent.
Customer-first creates satisfaction. It’s dumb when it leads to burnout.
4 Smart Practices
You can’t avoid stupid mistakes by thinking harder.
#1. Slow Your Brain At Key Moments
High-stakes decisions make intuition perilous. Test your path through the lens of customers, higher-ups, and front-line employees.
Question decisions when there’s no dissent. Peter Drucker taught, “What everyone knows is usually wrong.”
#2. Step Back When Emotions Run Hot
Hot emotions make you stupid. You do things you regret. And say things you can’t take back.
Intelligence isn’t immunity to error.
#3. Relax When Pressured For Decisions
Artificial urgency leads to preventable mistakes. Ask, “What happens if we sleep on it?”
Sleep makes you smart. Stress shrinks your brain.
#4. Stay Teachable
Confidence is dangerous when it closes your mind.
Uncertainty is a teachable moment, but so is certainty. Ask, “What do you think,” when you believe you know.
“Those who think they know, don’t.” Edward de Bono
Power Tip: Challenge your brilliance. “Who is most likely to disagree with this? Have you spoken to them?”
What practices protect leaders from relying on worn out wisdom?
Good Stupid or Bad Stupid You Choose
The Dunning-Kruger Effect: An Overestimation of Capability
“What looks smart behind your desk often looks stupid in the real world.” This was an incredible post, but I really loved this sentence. We cannot rule from the office – we need to be down in the trenches observing and speaking with the people that often have to implement policies (and sometimes with little voice in the decision). This was a great post of reflective statements.
So glad you found this useful, Travis. The seduction of isolation is powerful, especially during turbulence. The time to open the door is often when we feel like closing it.
“Who is most likely to disagree with this? Have you spoken to them?” YES!
I often will share something I think is a good idea and ask people “Tell me where I’m wrong about this.”
It might not change my mind, but will make me think of areas to tweak to make something better. I like a good, constructive conversation where there are differing opinions.
If an idea can’t withstand some criticism, then it’s not much of an idea. On the other hand, an idea that receives no criticism is probably pretty bland.