INCONCEIVABLE!

Today’s lesson in ineffective leadership – it’s dangerous to be the self-proclaimed “smartest person in the room.”

Just ask Vizzini.

Oh, wait, you can’t. Because he’s dead.

For those of you who don’t remember Vizzini, he was a character in the novel and movie, “The Princess Bride.” He led a three-person gang that included Inigo Montoya, a master swordsman (“You killed my father. Prepare to die.”) and Fezzik, a giant.

Vizzini prided himself on his intellect. It made him unique and set him apart from others. It was his value proposition.

That “unmatched” brilliance, however, proved to be his undoing. He was overconfident in his ability to understand complex issues and believed he was the only one who could solve problems.

Consider these instances where Vizzini’s overconfidence and boldness led him to overestimate his abilities:

– Ignoring all evidence to the contrary that his plan isn’t working as Westley, the hero, overcomes all the obstacles Vizzini has put in place – scaling the Cliffs of Insanity, besting Inigo in a sword fight, and then defeating Fezzik.

– Disregarding input from Inigo, who responds to Vizzini continually exclaiming “Inconceivable!” by saying, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

– Diminishing the qualifications of other experts – “Ever heard of Plato, Arisotle, Socrates?… Morons!”

– Overlooking barriers to his success, including how Westley prepared for a battle of wits by building up an immunity to iocane powder (an odorless, colorless, and deadly poison)

When you find yourself doubling down on your intellect to “win,” here are three tips to keep you on track:

– Check your focus – is this more being right and dominating the conversation with your intellectual firepower, or is it about finding the optimal answer to the puzzle you’re solving?

– Temper your certainty and creativity with curiosity – what else is there to learn here, and what information and insights can others add to derive the best solution?

– Avoid jumping to conclusions in the absence of real data and proposing solutions before the true problem has been identified.

What else works for you?