9/21/14, 8:21 AMBBC - Capital - The problem with smart people

Page 1 of 5http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140528-the-problem-with-smart-people

| 29 May 2014

The problem with smart peopleSYD WEIGHS IN (HTTP://WWW.BBC.COM/CAPITAL/COLUMNS/SYD-WEIGHS-IN)

Sometimes a talented person can be an ineffective manager. (Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)

When hiring, promoting, even just putting together your team, you should look for the smartest people in the room, right? Not so fast.Intelligence is one of those characteristics where there is a minimum level needed to be in the game. Once past that, too much intelligence can be a drawback orworse.

The problem withreally smart people isthat they often thinkthey know more thaneveryone else.

The Enron management team, for example, were known as “the smartest guys in the room.” Consider how well that turned out. The former US energy tradingcompany tapped its top talent to run some of its most-profitable divisions, almost without supervision. The managers, despite their smarts, were an arrogant,insecure bunch who took wild chances and lost billions of dollars. The company dissolved in 2001.

Certainly, the job for which you’re hiring makes a difference. I do want big-time intelligence for researchers, analysts, and coders, but you can lock those folks in aroom and let them do their thing because they work on their own. If they lack emotional intelligence or interpersonal skills, any damage they do is limited because oftheir independent work.But do I really need to find the smartest managers?The problem with smart peopleThe problem with really smart people is that they often think they know more than everyone else. Maybe they do. But that doesn’t help them when they’re trying toget others to buy into whatever they’re selling. For example, I was coaching one senior executive who always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else onher team. At least, that’s what she thought. One of the biggest challenges she faced was recognising that other managers didn’t necessarily view the world thesame way. That meant she needed to invest the time to bring them along if she wanted to get traction on her preferred projects.When you know the right answer, you often can’t believe that everyone else doesn’t just see the same thing, and fall into line.Unfortunately, organisations don’t work that way. Especially when working with peers when you don’t have direct authority over them, the only way to getmomentum toward your preferred outcome is to sell them on the idea. Imposing your “superior” solution just doesn’t work.

(/)

(https://ssl.bbc.com/id/signin?ptrt=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fcapital%2Fstory%2F20140528-the-problem-with-smart-people)News (http://www.bbc.com/news/)Sport (/sport/)Weather (/weather/)Shop (http://shop.bbc.com/)Capital (http://www.bbc.com/capital/) More

(http://search.bbc.co.uk/search)

Skip to content Accessibility Help (/accessibility/)

Careers (http://www.bbc.com/capital/tags/careers) Future Thinking (http://www.bbc.com/capital/tags/future-thinking) Leadership (http://www.bbc.com/capital/tags/leadership)

Managing (http://www.bbc.com/capital/tags/managing) Workplace (http://www.bbc.com/capital/tags/workplace)

Sydney Finkelstein

9/21/14, 8:21 AMBBC - Capital - The problem with smart people

Page 2 of 5http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140528-the-problem-with-smart-people

The irony is that sometimes the most talented person can make for one of the most ineffective managers. You can see this in sports, for example, where retiredsuperstars often find it difficult to coach or manage successfully because they are now supervising lesser mortals that weren’t blessed with the same degree ofinnate talent.Wayne Gretzky, the Canadian hockey legend who retired with more personal scoring records than anyone in the history of

hockey, was remarkably ineffective as a head coach. The same may be said about Michael Jordan, perhapsthe greatest basketball player ever, who has never been able to lead a successful basketball organisation whether as general manager, president or owner.

professional(http://www.bbc.com/capital/tags/careers?lc=int_mb_1001)

It could be just as bad when we let the A-level crowd go to market with what they see as the best product. I remember talking to managers at Singapore-basedCreative Technology, Inc after the iPod had just been introduced by Apple. Creative had a technologically superior MP3 player, but customers preferred the iPod, tothe utter dismay of the Creative managers. They just couldn’t understand how customers were so irrational!But it turns out that the best technology doesn’t always win, just like the smartest people don’t always succeed.It’s not just brainpower where more may also not be better. For example, is it good to keep reducing the time it takes for technicians to help customers requestingassistance via call-in centres? What about the quality of the advice, how the customer perceives the value of the advice or even whether it’s such a great idea in thefirst place to try to optimise on speed?Zappos, the US-based online shoe store, actually rewards employees for more time withcustomers who call in with questions about products they are thinking of buying. For Zappos, customer experience on a call trumps any simple metric that, in itsview, can actually detract from profitability.

spending (http://www.bbc.com/capital/tags/personal-finance?lc=int_mb_1001)

When employees are motivated to cycle through customers as fast as possible, platitudes that the customer comes first are just that — empty, cynical slogans thatmean nothing to sales staff.And let’s not forget the side effect that accompanies this culture. People who really care about service look elsewhere for work. That leaves demotivated employeeswho actually do a good job of hitting their time targets. In the end, you get what you want, but you lose because of un-nuanced thinking that more is better thanless.Call it brilliantly fulfilling the wrong vision.The quest for more may well be the defining ethos of our time, but the downside that comes with this single-minded fixation warrants greater attention. Relying onthe smartest and the most talented to lead and manage people and teams may be one of those things that sounds a lot better in theory than in practice.To comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Capital, head over to our

page or message us on .

Facebook(https://www.facebook.com/BBCCapital/photos/a.178704602308321.1073741826.147105585468223/290279551150825/?type=1) Twitter(https://twitter.com/BBC_Capital)

Sign-up today

Featured Video

You've never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling…The best stats you've ever seen

(http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120528-the-best-stats-youve-ever-seen)

9/21/14, 8:21 AMBBC - Capital - The problem with smart people

Page 3 of 5http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140528-the-problem-with-smart-people

Some say the future of cars is electric, but the humble internal combustion…

The lab pushing petrol car engines to new extremes

(http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131001-pushing-car-engines-to-new-limits)

Get a whiff of this: James May delves into the mechanics of what body odour is…

How does deodorant work?

(http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131011-how-does-deodorant-work)

9/21/14, 8:21 AMBBC - Capital - The problem with smart people

Page 4 of 5http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140528-the-problem-with-smart-people

What are your chances of finding Mr or Ms Right? How many people should you…

The scientific way to find a perfect partner

(http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131025-how-to-find-your-perfect-partner)

No one likes listening to themselves, but why? It’s because when you speak you…

Why does your voice sound different on a recording?

(http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130913-why-we-hate-hearing-our-own-voice)

Recommended by (#)

From around the BBC

BBC TRAVEL

Where is the seventh Celtic nation?(http://www.bbc.com/travel/slideshow/20131203-where-is-the-seventh-celtic-nation)

BBC CAPITAL

Catastrophic intern gaffes(http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140918-catastrophic-intern-gaffes)

BBC TRAVEL

In Bolivia, awe-inspiring scenes at every turn(http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140728-in-bolivia-awe-inspiring-scenes-at-every-turn)

BBC CAPITAL

Easy ways to green up your life — and save(http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140714-nine-ways-to-go-green-and-sav)

BBC CAPITAL

Fun or folly? Starting a business on the side(http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140919-fun-or-folly-working-on-the-side)

BUSINESS CHEAT SHEET

10 Worst College Majors for Today’s Job Market(http://wallstcheatsheet.com/business/10-worst-college-majors-for-todays-job-market.html/)

BUSINESS INNOVATION

6 Things To Remove From Your Resume RightNow (http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/human-resources/6-things-to-remove-from-your-resume-right-now-01359204)

WORTHLY

Highest Paying Occupations in 2014(http://worthly.com/articles/15-highest-paying-occupations-2014/)

FLEXJOBS

7 Things Job Seekers Do That Say, “I Don’tCare.” (http://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/7-things-job-seekers-do-that-say-i-dont-care/)

DRIVINGLINE

5 Autobahn Driving Tips(http://www.drivingline.com/2014/07/autobahn-etiquette-5-keys-of-successful-driving/)

9/21/14, 8:21 AMBBC - Capital - The problem with smart people

Page 5 of 5http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140528-the-problem-with-smart-people

BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Terms of Use (/terms/) About the BBC (/aboutthebbc/)

Privacy Policy (/privacy/) Cookies (/privacy/bbc-cookies-policy.shtml)

Accessibility Help (/accessibility/) Parental Guidance (/guidance/)

Contact the BBC (/contact/)

Read about our approach to external linking. (/help/web/links/)