“You are so much better at this than me. You should do it.”
“The timelines are so short. I’m too slow at this, you can do it faster.”
“You’re such a pro at this! It comes so naturally to you. I’m just inherently really bad at these kind of tasks. It will be best if you deal with this.”
“I did it so badly last time. I’m going to mess it up again. I’ll let you do it.”
“I can’t understand how this works. I don’t know. Please do it.”
Sounds familiar? 🤔
If someone has said this to you at work, it could be weaponised incompetence.
Weaponised or strategic incompetence at work refers to the act of intentionally pushing work (which one considers undesirable or unimportant) and the responsibility for such work on to another co-worker by intentionally performing a task poorly or expressing incompetence to perform a task. Praise is often used as a means to get the other person to take on the work. It is used to get out of menial tasks or unwanted, unimportant and unrewarding tasks that one doesn’t like. It is intentional and is associated with unwillingness to learn the task themselves. In case of menial tasks especially, “I don’t want to” is expressed as “I can’t”. The unwillingness to do the task or make an effort to learn is disguised as an inherent biological trait which cannot be changed.
HOW TO DETERMINE IF A REQUEST IS WEAPONISED INCOMPETENCE OR A GENUINE REQUEST FOR HELP USING KELLEY’S ATTRIBUTION THEORY
Not all requests for help are weaponized incompetence. Some requests are genuine requests for help. They arise not from the intention of taking advantage of someone else to get away with doing something but from the intention of wanting someone’s assistance due to lack of knowledge or skill or time. Most of us can relate to a situation where we desperately wanted help and support from our colleagues. Thus, it’s important to be able to differentiate between such genuine requests and weaponized incompetence.
➡ Consistency – How often does the person ask you for help every time they have to do the task?– If the person always asks you or other people for help whenever they have to do this task, then it is likely weaponized incompetence. However, if this is the first time the person asked for your help for this task but otherwise has been completing the task on their own, it is likely to be genuine request due to the prevailing situation maybe because of lack of time. A person’s previous comments regarding not liking or wanting to do particular kinds of tasks can also indicate their intent in asking you for help.
➡ Consensus – Whether other people behave in the same manner? – Do other co-workers at the same level also ask you for help with the same type of tasks or is it only this person who approaches you for help. If other people at the same level are able to perform the same task effectively, then it’s likely that the person is trying to push off the work on to you intentionally or they need training depending on the answer to point 4.
➡ Distinctiveness – Does the person always ask for help in similar situations or is asking for help only in this particular instance? – If the person asks for help for all similar tasks, then it’s likely that they are trying to get out of a certain kind of task they don’t like. However, if their request pertains to a very specific task and they are doing other similar tasks on their own, then it’s likely that the request is due to the situational circumstances, perhaps because they genuinely don’t know how to do it and want to learn.
➡ Whether the request is for you to do the task or to teach the other person how to do the task? – Ask what help the other person wants from you. Whether they want you to teach them or give them tips on how to do the task so they can do the task correctly next time, it is a request for training. However, if the request is for you to just do their work without involving them because they are just so bad or slow at it, then it is likely weaponized incompetence depending on point 1 (consistency)
➡ Whether the person has made any effort in the past to learn the task? – If the person has always avoided the task or spent very little time trying to learn the task all the while making statements about their inability to do the task, then it’s likely weaponized incompetence. Every task requires time and effort to learn. Even simple things like how to use a photocopy machine requires some effort. Sometimes, people are unwilling to put in the effort. They try for a minute and give up saying how they can’t understand it. We all probably have experienced that frustration at some point. But instead of learning, people who use weaponized incompetence believe that someone else should just do it for them.
➡ Whether the task they asked you to do is a part of their job description and your job description? – Does the position that they hold require them to know how to do the task that they are seeking help with. If not, they may genuinely be looking for the expert person whose job it is to perform the particular task. However, if your job description also does not include performing this task, then the other person could still be trying to push the responsibility on you to get the task done from the relevant person. Weaponised incompetence can also be used to push on to the other person random tasks which fall within neither of your job descriptions such as getting a scan or ordering birthday cakes! Since these tasks take up time, some people try to get out of them using weaponized incompetence (“I always order the wrong cakes!” or “I’m so bad with any sort of tech”.
HOW TO ADDRESS WEAPONISED INCOMPETENCE IN YOUR TEAM
Prevalence of weaponised incompetence in a team can result in various other issues such as work overload and potential burnout of the targets of weaponized incompetence, social loafing, erosion of trust among the team members, feelings among members of being unfairly treated, being taken advantage of and having to watch their back, inability to rely on team members and an ultimate loss of teamwork and productivity. It can also drive your performers out the door.
As a team leader, it is your responsibility to take steps to stop weaponized incompetence.
➡ Make Expectations Clear – The team members should be clearly made aware of their respective roles in the team or specific transactions. If a team member is interested in doing only specific kind of work (eg. work only on specific areas within a practice area), then such specific arrangements should be made clear during hiring and communicated to all team members.
➡ Fix accountability on members when they fail to perform their assigned tasks upto specific standards. Weaponised incompetence continues when people continue to successfully get away with it without any consequences.
➡ Communicate to the team members that weaponized incompetence will not be tolerated.
➡ Develop a learning attitude among team members by communicating the importance of learning at all levels including small tasks and your belief in their ability to perform these tasks. Encourage team members to ask for training on how best to perform certain tasks which they feel they may not be good at.
➡ If you witness it happening, intervene and calmly confront the team member regarding why they cannot perform the task and what is stopping them from learning the task. It is likely that the person will not express any sort of incompetence in front of the boss.
➡ For menial tasks which may not fall within anyone’s specific job descriptions, use different ways to divide the tasks equally amongst the team members eg. create a roster.
➡ Avoid overassigning tasks to your performing team members because the other team members have performed a task badly or were too slow to perform them. You may end up unintentionally encouraging other team members to dump their work on the performing members. Don’t make your efficient team members pay the efficiency tax.
