| Title | You Don't Have To Be Stupid To Work Here, But It's Encouraged | |
| Date | Wednesday September 28 2016, @04:03PM | |
| Author | janrinok | |
| Topic | ||
| from the I've-found-the-job-for-me! dept. | ||
Aeon has an article by André Spicer, a professor of organisational behaviour at the University of London, on the reasons why firms which claim to hire the smartest people spend most of the time discouraging them from thinking.
We have spoken with hundreds of people working for engineering firms, government departments, universities, banks, the media and pharmaceutical companies. We started out thinking it is likely to be the smartest who got ahead. But we discovered this wasn't the case.
Organisations hire smart people, but then positively encourage them not to use their intelligence. Asking difficult questions or thinking in greater depth is seen as a dangerous waste. Talented employees quickly learn to use their significant intellectual gifts only in the most narrow and myopic ways.
Those who learn how to switch off their brains are rewarded.
The article covers a variety of workplace behaviours, and is based on his book (co-authored with Lund University Professor Mats Alvesson), The Stupidity Paradox: The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity at Work.
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