[wpietri]

How do you deal with the Dunning-Kruger effect? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning-Kruger_effect

The short version is that people who are good at things generally get that way because they have a strong ability to tell good work from bad. People who are bad at things can't tell the difference, so they a) have a hard time improving, and b) think their low-quality work is pretty swell.

Is your culture perhaps unusually frank? Alternatively, is it very supportive in a way that makes critique more comfortable? Might you have a formal (or informal?) mentorship program so that people get useful feedback?

Are there peer groups that meet around particular skill areas? E.g., do visual artists get together regularly to show recent work and discuss it?

[mgallivan]

I don't think you explained the effect correctly. I think it's:

lower skill -> higher confidence in ability (overestimation) higher skill -> lower confidence in ability (underestimation)

[wpietri]

I agree my summary was a bit breezy. But I think an essential component of their theory is the focus on domain knowledge and metacognition, not skill as it is normally used. Consider the title of their first paper: "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments". In the conclusion, they write, "We propose that those with limited knowledge in a domain suffer a dual burden: Not only do they reach mistaken conclusions and make regrettable errors, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it."

Anyhow, for those who want their full take, the original paper is here: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.64....

[Locke1689]

The most important horn of the effect is dependent upon hiring incompetent people. What makes you think they hire incompetent people?

Moreover, this question could also be reduced to a question about their hiring in general.

[wpietri]

Competence isn't a single axis. Nobody's a genius at everything. E.g., great programming skill does not automatically confer high social skill, good business sense, appreciation of experience design, or ability to wrangle meetings.

If it will help everybody, please forget I mentioned Dunning-Kruger in specific. That's the inspiration for the question, not the heart of it.