Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I have met a few people who I describe as competent, straightforward, and candid. I like them. I also find that most people are off balance around them.

I describe my current boss as

• competent
• straightforward
• candid

I have worked for a few people in my life who had these same characteristics. I have noticed one thing about such people:

I takes a while for other people to grow accustomed to them.

It seems that this is an unusual combination of traits. It also seems that each trait by itself is unusual and throws people off balance.

Competent: Most people aren’t very good at what they do. Probability and Statistics teaches us that half of us are below average. That means that half of us are above average, but perhaps above average doesn’t always mean competent. Competent people know things (declarative knowledge for those of us who have delved into artificial intelligence) and know how to do things (procedural knowledge for the same AI crowd). I think we rate competent people as being in the upper 10% or maybe the upper 1% of some scale of goodness.

Straightforward: Life is a mystery novel for most people. Personal stories and explanations tend to wander about until they circle back to the answer. This means that some people require ten minutes to tell you what time it is, and by the time they finish, they are wrong by ten minutes. Straightforward people make life a non-fiction headline. Here is the answer, now let’s move on. Somehow straightforward people seem to be no fun to the rest of the world.

Candid: Honesty means telling the truth. I have adopted a habit from a colleague that whenever someone says, “Well, to be honest…” he replies with “You mean you have been dishonest with me up to now?” Candid goes beyond honest. Candid is when someone says, “That outfit doesn’t look good on you.” Candid is not blunt. I consider blunt to carry a bit of “I will tell you the truth and I hope it hurts you a bit.” Candid is “I will tell you the truth with the best of intentions towards you.” Still, candid startles most people.

I like competent, straightforward, and candid. I strive to be all three everyday. I don’t have the energy to do otherwise.