Today, I was fortunate enough to join a group of women at Microsoft for a monthly chat to share our highs and lows as working moms. While I value my friends without children, friends who are dads, and other colleagues, being able to speak with people who are struggle with similar challenges was refreshing.
One member brought up a challenge she is having with a manager and the discussion quickly moved to weaponized incompetence. I have, unfortunately, experienced weaponized incompetence in my own career but more often than not, I witness my colleagues struggling with its effects.
Weaponized incompetence ― or “strategic incompetence” as it’s sometimes called ― is the act of feigning incompetence at any one task (though usually an unpleasant one) to get out of doing it. When someone deploys strategic incompetence, their hope is that someone else will stare them down and say with a huff, “Fine, it’s easier for me to do it anyway!
While most of the time, this problem is discussed as it pertains to unbalanced parenting/household duties, I wanted to highlight that it continues to happen in the workplace, too. While we have come very far in the battle towards equality, a lot of us still struggle with pushing back and calling out behavior like this.
More often than not, female employees take on the invisible tasks and extra work. We have a tendency to just “do it ourselves” as opposed to trying to fix it later. However, this extra burden can quickly become taxing and lead to burn out. Most women with whom I speak tell me they struggle with speaking up. This is how allies can help.
Just because the female manager on your team remembers birthdays, it is not her responsibility to make sure a card is sent around. Alternatively, if someone on your team knows how to run a report better or faster than you can, do not assume they are responsible for completing it for you if it is not within their job duties. Ask for help to learn.
Here is my ask: continue to be an advocate, for yourself and for your peers, reports, and friends. Speak up when something like strategic incompetence is happening. Best case scenario, the offender was unaware and will work to correct their behavior. Say, “no,” when your plate is too full and someone is asking you to take on their task because they cannot bother to make the effort. Assume that your coworker/manager is perfectly capable and will be able to learn the task, just as you have, and be willing to offer advice, but do not do it for them.
If you are the offender, recognize that not putting in the effort is negatively affecting your people and peers. Take the time to learn and humble yourself in knowing that you might need to spend some more time on this task.
I am very hopeful that this will become less of a problem as we work towards awareness, speaking up, and owning our capacity. I am constantly surprised and impressed with growth, especially in those who felt they could never change or didn’t think they needed change. We need to think the best of our peers and assume it is impact, not intent, that is the biggest issue here.
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