‘Failing up’: Why some climb the ladder despite mediocrity – By Zulekha Nathoo (BBC) / Mar 3 2021
Allowing workers to ‘fail up’ can yield talented leaders. But only some people are allowed to fail without penalty, while others never get the chance.
It’s the lackluster associate who makes partner despite a poor record, even though you’ve been working around the clock at the same firm without even a glance from the bosses. It’s getting passed up for that big account after being at an agency for five years, only to see your unremarkable-but-charismatic colleague score the project after two. Or maybe it’s that ineffective manager who, despite poor people skills, continues to get more staff and responsibility.
Most of us know the frustrating feeling of watching someone ‘fail upward’: landing successively sweeter gigs even after professional mediocrity or missteps. It turns out, allowing employees to fail up isn’t necessarily bad and can sometimes yield talented, resilient leaders. What is troubling, experts say, is the significant gap between who’s allowed to fail without penalty on the way up – and who never gets that chance.
Why people fail up
Multiple factors set the stage for ordinary hires to fail upward. One of the reasons the phenomenon persists, says Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a business psychology professor at Columbia University in New York City, is because hiring managers, decision-makers, even voters can be easily “seduced” by characteristics incompatible with good leadership, such as overconfidence.
Research published in Leadership Quarterly in 2019 showed that across multiple studies, hiring managers consistently saw leadership potential in those who demonstrated inflated confidence in their skills. At the same time, this type of extreme hubris, which Chamorro-Premuzic says men exhibit more than women, often runs counter to actual competence. In social psychology circles, it’s known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.
