The Power of Reframing

"Kruger and Dunning (1999) found that the less competent people are, the more they overestimate their performance, partly because they don't know good performance when they see it." Bolman and Deal (2021)

Reflection: How many of those do we know? To what extent have we believed that what we do is the best way to approach an issue, problem, project or activity? 

I strongly believe that currently the different sectors of government in Peru are in the hands of people whose performance, professionalism and experience are questionable. In coherence with the quote above, I would add that they might even believe their actions are of high quality and what Peru needs. Article about Minister of Health -Peru

At a more personal and professional level, I witness this every day. The people that are being hired and given responsibility to lead pedagogic teams are unaware of what good performance is and deny to listen to those who give proposals, or suggestions. It is becoming customary that after one 'decision' they make, they have to take it back. This should only be part of the process of management, but that decision already meant that thousands of soles (Peruvian currency= sol) were spent, time was invested, and no impact was made.

I am still in the search of how I can address and face this complex situation in my position as a specialist who does not formally lead a team or is responsible for it. By writing this, I realise that leadership and responsibility can be granted informally as well. Maybe that is the path I should take and be more aware of. 

"When managers find problems too hard to solve, they hire consultants. The number and variety of advice givers keep growing exponentially. Most of these modern shamans have a specialty: strategy, technology, quality, finance, marketing, mergers, human resource management, executive search, outplacement, coaching, organization development, planning, and many more. For every managerial challenge, there is a consultant willing to offer assistance—at a price." 

 Reflection: This quote supports the radical ideas of the current president and his party. Article about this thought in Peruvian government for decades

It is sad to admit that in Peru consultancy has been the way governments have "led" the most important sectors like Education. Fresh graduates from private 'elite' Peruvian universties were trusted to do so. I have witnessed how experienced professionals who were staff at the ministries were put aside and underestimated. I agree and like to work with young people, but cannot there be a way where both can work as a team and be heard? 

Blink: Gladwell (2005) describes it as a gift that makes it possible to read “deeply into the narrowest slivers of experience.

"The blink process is key to expertise and skill. Kahneman and Klein (2009) argue that it works best for individuals who have developed a deep understanding of a particular domain through experience and deliberate practice with feedback. Skill and expertise come to those who are willing to invest time and effort and learning (Ericsson, 2005). But for nonexperts, fast, intuitive thinking often leads to very bad judgments. Experts typically know when they don't know, but nonexperts think they know when they don't (Kahneman and Klein, 2009). “Subjective confidence is therefore an unreliable indication of the validity of intuitive judgments” (p. 524)."

 "“Many options bring victory, few options bring defeat, no options at all spell disaster” (Sun, 2012). When managers don't see options, they make mistakes but often fail to understand why."