Guys. I think I’ve inadvertently stumbled upon why the phenomenon of how idiots (as opposed to someone more qualified) are often found in positions of power occurs. (I’m thinking of you certain possible GOP presidential candidate, certain former Venezuelan president, certain former Afghani president, a whole slew of former Taiwanese presidents, certain managers I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing in the act of managing, etc.) Wanna know, wanna know??
Ahem…it’s because idiots are less dense than the surrounding matter and therefore, they will rise to the top (this totally needs to be on a shirt or a poster or something).
TADA!! Makes so much sense, doesn’t it?
Think about it, say in a sea of normal, everyday employees, somehow the one with the least common sense and often the least courtesy toward fellow employees, the least idea about how a project should be managed, the least technical knowledge, the biggest ego, the most insecure, etc is somehow the one to be promoted to a management position. Why? Because everyone else with common sense is weighed down by their common sense (and technical knowledge and common courtesy). The idiot managers don’t have (much) of that stuff, so they are relatively less dense and they rise to the top.
Have you ever thought about the expression “filled with hot air”? I would argue that the idiot managers also tend to be filled with hot air. Gasses at warmer temperatures are less dense than gasses at lower temperatures. So again, idiots are less dense than the surrounding matter and therefore can rise to the top.
But what of the rare non-idiot manager, you ask. Yes. Those do exist. I have worked for a few of them. And well…you can get a metal pin to float on water. Metal is denser than water so you wouldn’t think that would be possible. But surface tension! It’s probably surface tension that allows these rare non-idiot managers to achieve their management positions. I guess the surface tension is all the employees with sense who like to work with caring, good managers.
The problem with this is that if you disturb the surface tension the pin sinks as you would expect it to. I’ve unfortunately seen this with good managers too. I guess they’re just too full of common sense (technical knowledge, common courtesy, actual care for their people, etc) to stay afloat. It’s…so sad.
Random moosages as I see fit. 