Competent Jerks, Lovable Fools and the formation of Social Networks: Article Analysis

The central theme of the article states that an individual’s persona, attitude and behavior may result in both positive or negative perceptions and reactions from his/her peers or colleagues. It focusses on the necessity to maintain a balance between competitiveness and likeability while partaking in informal social relationships at the workplace. Furthermore, it examines various methods a manager can utilize to extract the best out of people of diverse personalities and competencies by capitalizing on their unique strengths. The reading states that people at the workplace are different and thus classifies them as follows:

          1          The competent jerk that is resourceful but has a bad personality.

          2          The lovable fool who is not very insightful, but has a great with people.

          3          The lovable star that is both loved by everyone and is resourceful.

          4          The incompetent jerk that is not competent, nor likeable.

While I agree with the above stated categorization, a statement made in the case mentioned that when people who are familiar with each other and who like each other work together, it is usually harder to point out negatives in each other’s ideas, strategies, etc. I do not believe this to be true as I have experienced otherwise during my own interactions with people. I feel that it is easier to convey honest opinions and criticism while working with someone you know well rather than someone who is absolutely new to you. In all honesty and simplicity, this reading has taught me that it is best for one to stay humble and down to earth despite their respective levels of intelligence, expertise, productivity or otherwise. This is essentially true because adopting a persona that can potentially alienate an individual from their peers or colleagues will inevitably result in them compromising on a vital element of success that they singlehandedly do not have entire control over – popularity. It is a quality that is earned rather than merely developed like most other soft skills and the only route towards achieving it is to ensure that the people around you like & support you. This has been the case with the lovable star, who is always at the top of the pecking order – both intelligent and loved by everyone.

I certainly believe that if the lessons learnt from this case can be well synthesized and applied correctly in real life scenarios, they can have very resounding and prominent results on a person’s work life and relationships, by and large. For these very same reasons would I strongly recommend this article to any colleague of mine, whom I would consider to be a victim of their own professional behavioral downfall simply because they may not be aware of the implications that their attitudes or actions have on those around them. I believe that this article compels one to think beyond his/her respective horizons. It helps uncover many blind spots of whose existence we may not necessarily have known. In other words it helps us identify those weaknesses that we may never have known to have had simply because we may have been blinded by the fog of our own pride and arrogance. This allows us to reflect on ourselves and take corrective action in a timely manner, before the matter goes out of hand which in relation to this article would mean rejection from your peers/co-workers. The ability to see what cannot necessarily be seen is in many ways a divine endowment and is the one crucial takeaway from this article, in my opinion. Hence, I feel that this article is instrumental in undertaking an analysis of oneself and thus remedying the situation instantaneously. 

I think this article relates to managing oneself from week 7 as it advocates managing others and being managed. It explores the process of self discovery of one’s strengths and reviews ways in which to build a personal brand around these strengths.