Can We Talk About Core Competency?
Anyhoo, this is a subject that, the older I become, the more I invariably raise in casual conversation. Core competency: the innate ability to figure shit out, handle their shit, never let their shit slip, and then get that shit done. Basically, a person who knows their shit, figuratively scatologically speaking.
It's often confused for the "management theory" developed by C. K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel. I'm definitely not talking about this, you heartless hippy capitalist.
It's also sometimes confused and/or used as a substitute for: common-sense, wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, education, genius, cunning, craftiness, being gifted, being sly, being slick, being thorough, hard-working, street-smarts, and other such adjectives.
But, in reality, core competency is all of these and none of these. Core competency is being thrown into the proverbial deep-end your first day on the job and innately being able to accomplish the task asked of you despite never having performed it before ever in life.
Core competency is having a black-belt in Google-fu. It's strong. It's fast. It can obtain instructions on how to change your car's oil, update your Android iOS, learn basic survival skills for the zombie apocalypse, and get decent nearby catering for that working lunch thing.
Core competency is the inherent nature of confidence in what you can do, what you cannot do, and what you simply haven't ever tried to do before. And then doing that thing like you've been doing it since Lazarus was in diapers.
And for the nine-lives of me I cannot understand how people survive a single day in their lives without some basic core competency, the Peter Principle notwithstanding.
Example! People who file lawsuits without a basic idea of what kind of lawsuit they are filing, like which specific individuals they actually want to sue and for what reason they would have to sue them.
Example! People who want to know directions from X to Y place that apparently cannot read a map, find a map, or (better yet) open their goddamn smartphone/computer/Thomas Guide/sextant/whatever people used before Waze and Google (Mapquest, I think?).
Example! People who don't read things before they sign them. People who don't know how to watch a video that explains exactly how Windows 10 works. People who don't seem to be able to figure out that business casual does not include jorts, birkenstocks, or a Hot Topic ensemble.
There is a possibility that this is a classist assumption I am making, among other such prejudicially discriminatory opinions. Perhaps I'm being the "competent jerk." But really though? We live in an age where the collective knowledge of humanity is at our fingertips and ya'll can't just figure out that it is NOT GOOD IDEA to offer to purchase clothes for your coworker that you've only known about 5 whole minutes.
We're living in the end times, where expecting someone to have just the faintest idea of how to go about looking for information they need is tantamount to being unreasonable?
I'm just saying!
Core competency is what it looks like when you tell someone -- someone whom you are allowed to tell to -- to get a specific task done, and can reasonably expect them to have made some progress on accomplishing said task.
Core competency is when someone doesn't plead ignorance in the middle of an argument but actually does some real-time fact checking on themselves and the person(s) they are arguing with.
Core competency is someone who is not too basic to check Snopes and see that contrails are just clouds formed when water vapor condenses and freezes around small particles (aerosols) that exist in aircraft exhaust and the surrounding atmosphere -- y'know, instead of mind-controlling chemicals.
Core competency is knowing that Wikipedia is a great place to browse but isn't really a trustworthy source to cite as fact or proof positive.
Core competency is knowing that whenever you start a sentence with, "I'm not [insert adjective] but..." you are most definitely [insert adjective].
I could probably go on all day, but you get the point. Right? Right!? If you're reading this and are unsure if you possess core competency, here's a test:
Go on your social media account and check one statement/claim/argument/etc. If you can figure out the answer in less than 5 minutes, then yes, you have core competency. If you have no idea what I just asked you to do, then congratulations! You don't have it...
Core competency is akin to being the smartest person in a room full of idiots and you aren't actually all that smart. You just drink and know things. Or you can figure them out if you'll just give us one second to check using this device in our pocket that possesses access to the collective knowledge of humanity.
Maybe there was a day when being highly specialized to the point of being anemic in every other aspect of your life was a sought after skill. Like being -- at whatever it is that you did -- the chess world's Bobby Fischer, only less bigoted and crazy. Like being Mozart to music what you are/were to solving differential equations, mining coal, or working the cash register at a gas station. Something like that. You get my point.
Core competency is knowing you can have depth and breadth. You don't have to pick just one! You can be someone who knows a lot about a lot, or least is able to know a lot about a lot with a little lead time to research.
Core competency is that sense of, "hey, this isn't actually all that hard -- is there some reason nobody else can handle it? I mean, everyone can't be this lazy and stupid. Right? Right!?"
I'm just saying.
When I think of core competency, I think of people who can be expected to do something right the first time or self-correct if they don't. They can be trusted to ask for help if they need it but only because they actually worked hard to solve the problem themselves first and aren't just coming to you because they never tried hitting RESTART.
I also think of the kind of person that can communicate without resorting to half-formed thoughts conjugated using drunk-text, grunts, and pointing at things. Y'know, someone who will utilize the various forms of "their," "there" and "they're." Someone who isn't a damn fascist for grammar but can string two syllables together into something vaguely resembling a coherent idea.
Maybe this is turning a little ranty. Is it turning ranty? You'd let me know and stop reading if it were, right? Nevermind.
MY POINT IS: can we please get a little core competency on this planet? Like, don't vote for rapists. Don't spend money you don't have or can't get in a timely fashion at a reasonable rate of owed interest. Try reading about something and then doing the thing instead of just asking for someone to help you by doing it for you.
What? It's not hard to figure out how many quarters you'll need for the laundry. It's not rocket science to know that you probably shouldn't eat raw meat, harass people on public transportation, or call out sick to work and the post on social media about how gnarly that Nickelback concert was where your boss and coworkers that you friended can easily see it.
So, please, get yourself some core competency. Because every time you ask for help setting your phone alarm so don't miss work, a possibly existent deity in the sky kills another cute animal. SO GET IT TOGETHER, YOU MONSTER!
Because, seriously, the crappier everyone else is, the more those of us who can handle shit are gonna be shoveling.
Cheers
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