“Marketing in Nepal: Are Marketers Victims of Dunning-Kruger Effect or Impostor Syndrome?”
Few days back, I met a student who just graduated her MBA. She was exuding confidence. The way she was talking about business and marketing left me impressed. It reminded me of my own graduation days when I felt similarly confident. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if she might be experiencing the Dunning-Kruger effect.
When we step out of college armed with knowledge from cases, projects, and articles we already feel as if we have conquered the world. Concepts like targeting, differentiation, and positioning seem like second nature to us. But then, we stumble upon books like “How Brands Grow” and “Eat Your Greens,” which challenge our beliefs. Suddenly, nothing appears as sacred as we once thought.
Most of us have been through this phase or we are currently in it. People who suffer from the effect rarely know about it. As David Dunning jokes, the first rule of the Dunning–Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning–Kruger club. Incompetent people tend to:
What is Dunning Kruger Effect?
The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities. People suffering from the effect:
Overestimate their skill levels.
Fail to recognize the genuine skill and expertise of other people.
Fail to recognize their own mistakes and lack of skills.
As amusing as it may seem, there are perils of it.
Risks
The Studies have shown that about 80% of people rate themselves as “above-average drivers,” a statistic that is, once again, mathematically impossible. An inflated sense of ability when driving can cause drivers to make rash decisions and get into accidents. In fact, new drivers with less than six months of experience are eight times more likely to be in accidents, not just because they’re inexperienced, but also because they’re overconfident.
In the medical field, one study found that junior physicians who were less competent tended to self-rate their efficacy higher than it was demonstrated. Researchers have also found that more competent junior physicians tended to self-rate their efficacy lower than less competent ones. This can lead to serious issues when patients are under the care of overconfident, less skilled doctors.
Even in aviation, it has been found first officers under the influence of the Dunning-Kruger effect represent a risk to flight safety, especially when partnered with a captain who lacks assertiveness and/or authority.
How to avoid it?
To overcome this bias, it’s crucial to recognize your own ignorance. As Benjamin Disraeli said, “To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.” Adam Grant, in his book “Think Again,” suggests achieving “confident humility”: having faith in your capabilities while acknowledging that you may not have all the answers. This blend of doubt and confidence enables us to reevaluate our knowledge and seek new insights.
What about marketers in Nepal?
Recently read an article by Mark Ritson ‘Suffering from impostor syndrome? The cure is simpler than you think’. The article talks about marketers suffering from Impostors syndrome (opposite of Dunning Kruger). In the article he estimates 30% to 40% of marketers struggling with impostor syndrome in their roles. I found the situation quite the opposite in case of Nepal. The reason I have already mentioned in several of my posts. We are mostly in the overconfidence zone. Are marketers in Nepal suffering from Duning Kruger effect or impostor’s syndrome?
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