How to Work with Stupid People

I write a lot about being smart and trying not to be stupid. Well, here’s a good post by Jason Crawford on how to work with stupid people. It’s not what you’d expect.

He takes a line of thinking I really like:

I consider myself reasonably intelligent, yet I have had no problem surrounding myself with people at or above my intellectual level. I’ve also had good relationships with co-workers at all levels of intelligence. Unless you’re a world-class genius (statistically unlikely), you are probably mis-diagnosing people as stupid.

He goes on to give excellent advice on rethinking how to behave when you’re in this situation.

In the comments I offered this:

The problem here is more psychological and emotional than intellectual. Not to assume the other guy is stupid means you have to be willing to acknowledge the stupid guy might be you. Which is something most people do not have the generosity, courage or patience to explore, even for 30 seconds. (How else will you ever learn anything?)

Read the full article here: How to work with stupid people


17 Responses to “How to Work with Stupid People”

  1. Dorian Taylor

    I like to think in terms of smart enough rather than plain smart. Consider leaving a dog in a back yard. Anybody who has done this knows it is a mistake to assume that it’s just a dog and therefore not smart enough to find a way to open the gate (or find some other way to escape).

    It seems safe enough to assume that people differ physiologially in intelligence just as they do in height or eye colour. It is at least as hard to ascribe values to certain quantitative measurements of cognition as it is apparent physical traits.

    There is also the issue of what is stupid. I distinguish stupidity from ignorance and apathy, because I believe it is important to know when somebody doesn’t know, doesn’t care, or knows and cares but doesn’t process.

    I guess that makes me in agreement with the motion to stop worrying about where we place on the IQ scale and ensure our eyes stay attached to our brains.

    Reply
  2. BenAlabaster

    Do I understand the implication of your comment correctly?

    Meaning 1: by acknowledging that you may be the stupid guy you, you’ll never learn anything

    Meaning 2: unless you acknowledge you may be the stupid guy you’ll never learn anything?

    Not being 100% sure of my interpretation of your meaning, I’m not exactly sure how to respond.

    I’m of the opinion that unless I’m generous enough to consider that I might in fact be the idiot, then who do I learn from?

    Even if someone is not as intelligent (stupider if you will) as me, it doesn’t mean that there is nothing they can teach me. There are things to be learned from everyone around us, in all walks of life and from all backgrounds and levels of intelligence. Obviously we can’t take information from everyone at face value and assume it’s right, we have to apply some critical thinking – but that doesn’t mean that a “stupid” person has nothing they could teach a genius.

    Reply
  3. Scott Berkun

    Ben:

    I meant meaning #2. Unless I consider I might be wrong, or more specifically, am not as smart as I think I am, I will rarely be in a position to learn anything.

    As Jason points out in his article “stupid” is sloppy. There are many kinds of intelligence and ability lumped together in that word.

    Much of the time I find the real issues are in communication. Person B doesn’t understand what person A says. Person A assumes person B must be stupid for not understanding. But in reality there is a better way Person A could have expressed himself. Good communicators are less likely to blame the other person than the bad ones.

    Reply
  4. Mohamed Mansour

    There is also the issue of what is stupid. I distinguish stupidity from ignorance and apathy, because I believe it is important to know when somebody doesn

    Reply
  5. Mike Nitabach

    My entire purpose as a leader and manager is to surround myself with people who are smarter than me. To do otherwise would just be stupid!

    Reply
  6. steve

    Good article and good comment. There always is a chance “the stupid guy might be you” true true.

    Personally I try to see everyone as an equal, in the end we are all human. =]

    Reply
  7. pradeep chandar

    Stupid people will be stupid unless they realize and take necessary steps to be smart.

    There we could differentiate the person who is in the process of learning and the person who is not ready to(stupid). So we will not be stupid unless we can realize and be ready to change ourselves in case. The best thing We can do is to give them some time or chance to change

    Reply
  8. Eric

    Great article, spotty organization. Maybe it’s only my personal taste, but I find it difficult to read/fully absorb content that is bullet point-heavy.

    I think that the author has a great foundation for a much longer, more in-depth article.

    Reply
  9. The Gerbster

    One important rule I’ve learned in decades of working in large and small organizations: THE STUPID PERSON RULE. Always listen to everyone. Sometimes, even a stupid person has a good idea.

    Reply
  10. Sachin

    Stupid people should do some yoga or some other exercises to sharpen memory and be smart/ attentive or else they will remain stupid.

    Reply
  11. Dr. Robert Hume

    Looking back on the last twenty five years, in my humble opinion: the whole of the populous has descended in to a new low of stupidness. from health care all the way down to your average every day moron or in layman’s terms: Everybody is turning in to a dumbshit!
    I just have one question: what dumbass would want mercury
    in there body?
    The C.D.C.anounced that they were going to start putting mercury in the H1M1 vaccine the surgeon general of the united states left the meeting and then phoned his wife to advise there yungest daughter (who just found out that she was pregnant) not to get the shoot because of the efects on the unborn baby. Now there giving babys to injections of their supposedly mercury free (B.S. ist a lower dose of mercury) The two shoots are to off set the total effects of the mercury then if they were to give them the full dose in the one shot! THERE CALLING IT A Preservative, but believe it or not, there are people that are swallowing there bullcrap! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
    I have lost my practitioner’s license because of wy warnings in the past wich only leaves me to thing that there
    trying to dumb us all down / why? As one of the leading toxicologist in my field. or X toxicologist in my field i just can`t understand why they want to posion the people of the united states?? this is the reason the above info is false

    Reply
  12. Snejana Damwell

    Totally disagree with the sentence “There are no stupid people, they are just bla bla…
    Well English is not my first language but even I am capable of telling you at least 10 word the English have for stupid. If there is no such thing why the adjective stupid has been defined so precisely over the centuries? There are variety of stupidity, a lot.
    Stupidity is something which comes from your genes in way and the circumstances you grow up in. Combining all reasons the final result is you.Is there confirmed case of someone who had been stupid to become not stupid? Hardly think so. Stupidity is a talent.

    Reply
  13. Snejana Damwell

    Totally disagree with the sentence “There are no stupid people, they are just bla bla…
    Well English is not my first language but even I am capable of telling you at least 10 words the English have for stupid. If there is no such thing why the adjective stupid has been defined so precisely over the centuries? There are variety of stupidity, a lot.
    Stupidity is something which comes from your genes in a way and the circumstances you grow up in. Combining all reasons the final result is you.Is there confirmed case of someone who had been stupid to become not stupid? Hardly think so. Stupidity is a talent.

    Reply

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