Discussion Forum

This is a very funny serious article.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/the-anosognosics-dilemma-1/

I agree Katy

Particularly:

Dunning and Kruger argued in their paper, "When people are incompetent in the strategies they adopt to achieve success and satisfaction, they suffer a dual burden: Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it. Instead, like Mr. Wheeler, they are left with the erroneous impression they are doing just fine."

It became known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect - our incompetence masks our ability to recognize our incompetence.

One comes upon this effect particularly in the World of work. However, let's not be too quick to blame Fabio. Fabio isn't incompetent - I am sure if he had been managing the German team they would still have beat us. Fabio isn't stupid - Fabio knows that teams are made by players and won or lost by players. Players who in today's case let themselves be caught out a second time by the same tactic and who were just not up to scratch due to their own abilities or lack of them.

No Fabio isn't incompetent - INCOMPETENCE CAN ONLY COME FROM THE TOP DOWN - would you say anyone who gets 12 million quid if he's sacked is incompetent? I would say he's an unmitigated success as a competitive human being. All coaches are competent - look at the poor bastard for N. Korea. He's competent - he let their illustrious leader pick the team and give tactical instructions over the phone - which the coach has, no doubt in writing, recorded and copies of everything lodged with the CIA just in case - not because he would get 12mio win or lose but because it was about the only way he could prevent himself and his 22 players from facing a firing squad once back at home even though they may still have to crawl on their bellies from the airport through Pyongyang to the Palace where they will apologise grovellingly to the Nation.

Not many people notice at all but every time Korea fields a team it's a different one - they all look the same and they all have names like Kim Ping Pong and Fuk. This year's coach knew how to field the same team twice if at all possible - he was competent.

In any operation incompetence comes directly from the top - those too incompetent to recognise their incompetence in choosing competent employees for instance.

In the case in point there is only one place where imcompetence reigns and that is at the English Football Association. The incompetence here is that they could not recognise that to guarantee a coach (particularly an Italian) 12 million quid win or lose is no fucking incentive for a coach of any nationality for that matter to care one way or the other, all he has to do is try and be seen to try - they have after all written their own contract and the players divide the blame by 12 at least. A competent FA would know that the coach who says 12million if I win nothing if I lose and I'll go quietly is the one they should employ because who is going to want to waste four years of their time with no pay unless they are bloody sure of themselves and 12mio to pay their debts at the end of it.

Better use for 12 million quid? Well a few tens of thousands incentive bonus per goal and per won game and bugger all if they lose at all for the players might do the trick - footballers never say no to a bit of cash for their high-maintenance WAG's. Bribes for useless Uruguayan football referees and officials? - probably not. Investment and lobbying for video equipment at international matches - money well spent but nothing to do with winning is it.

I think N. Korea has found the winning formula, win or lose.

Ready.... Aim....

I liked the vindication explanation of Donald Rumsfields "unknown unknowns". I remember laughing at that but now I think its genius.