Could you be the project idiot?
Who would have thought in Roman times that skinny nerds would one day rule the world? Those with big brains, high IQs and soft hands rose to the top of the food chain.
But in this world where brains count for much, I think there has been a new opportuniy for the much maligned village idiot, or rather, the new role of project idiot. This is a new breed of idiot though and it is more of a purposeful strategy than an uncontrollble characteristic and like many strategies that work, this one also can by flipping many expectations on their head.
Any one can be one and it usually involves having the confidence and self belief to be laughed at, look stupid and appear weak; this cannot be acheived in your own area of expertise of course as you need to be respected in that area to even get on the project in the first place. No, this role is for someone to intervene in an area that is not their area and is useful when there is a problem that no one appears to be able to solve and there are large egos in play, or maybe there are politics that are immobilizing the way forward.
The main purpose of the role of project idiot is to appear curious but a bit stupid and non-threatening. This can play well in a situation were there are a lot of “stupid” questions that need to be asked and answered to ensure everyone has the same view, as often people will nod and agree without any understanding because of their position and the fear of looking stupid. Often, experts can reveal the limitations of their expertise (and hence the limitations on which their judgement should be followed unchallenged) by the project idiot, as he can perserve in asking questions that take everyone step-by-step through complexity.
Has your project got a project idiot? If the project is in trouble, it may need one.
Interesting concept … I might like to volunteer for this .. although I think I’d make less of a ‘project idiot’ and more of a ‘project distrupter’ .. the role being to test the expertise of the so called SME’s by asking questions that potentially expose them .. by this I mean sitting in on a design meeting and suddenly saying ‘Won’t we save money if we write it in ‘B’?’
And given that most people in IT ARE nerds it would be easy to interject some of the more famous nerdy recognisable one-liners from Sci-Fi and movies .. when being handed a task against a project one could, for example, smash one’s hand on the table and yell ‘MEN OF GOOD CONSCIENCE CANNOT BLINDLY FOLLOW ORDERS!!!’ … this has distinct possbilities .. what have you unleashed!?!?!?
Charles Ross
January 6, 2011 at 3:53 pm