Handling Mr. Know-it-all

Dear Bob …

We hired a guy recently who I’m having some struggles with.  Let’s call him George. I like George a lot; he’s young, energetic, and full of ideas; he’s not afraid to tackle something really imposing or to dig into some serious research on how to solve a problem. On the other hand, he is undisciplined, impulsive and often just plain sloppy. This didn’t surprise me, since he’s young and fairly inexperienced; we hired him because we could see he had a lot of potential.

However, he seems unaware of any need to improve and appears to believe he knows all there is to know. I like to lead by example and by explaining the benefits, getting feedback and (hopefully) coming to a consensus about how to do things. Any time I mention an idea, George immediately spouts off his own opinion as though it’s common knowledge. If I try to explain further, he just says, “Well, that’s the way I see it,” as if there needs to be no further discussion. Worse, he doesn’t express himself well and half the time I can’t tell what his objection is to a particular idea.

For example, I had noticed that George decent object-oriented programming skills but didn’t see much evidence of thought given to overall design and architecture. So I casually mentioned I was thinking about starting a study group on design patterns in order to help the team have a common “language” for discussing design ideas. He immediately objected and said that “books like that” take all the creativity out of design and they’re just what one person thinks about design, and so forth. “The C# reference book is a lot more useful,” he finished. I was dumbfounded. I responded with something like, “Let’s compare this to construction. The C# reference book is like a box of hammers, screwdrivers and pliers,” I said. “Design patterns is about best practices for laying out rooms, designing trusses and so forth. It doesn’t dictate how you design your house. It doesn’t take away creativity at all.” He wasn’t convinced, and went on about how his teachers in school did these stupid things with patterns, and he had read “a bunch” of these books, blah blah blah.

More than once I have been tempted to take him outside and yell, “Do you really think you’re God’s gift to this company? You have potential, and that means you’re not there yet. If you don’t want to be a junior programmer all your life, I suggest you take a few humility pills and starting learning from those around you.” Of course, that would be rather pointy-haired-boss-like, so I’ve resisted the temptation so far.

Can you give me some ideas?

– Not screaming yet

Dear Screaming real soon …

Well, I don’t know about taking him outside and yelling at him …

There are people in this world who are accustomed to being the only smart person in the room. They just don’t understand that in the give and take of ideas, ’tis more blessed to receive. It’s a problem that’s more often solved with age than with coaching, if it’s solved at all.

Here’s what I think has to happen. First, you have to recognize that George might not make it in your organization. At the risk of straining a metaphor past the breaking point, it doesn’t matter how good a piccolo player he is if he insists on tootling the Stars and Stripes Forever while everyone else is playing the Lieutenant Kije Suite. Once you’re comfortable with the idea that you might have to terminate him, it’s time to explain the facts of life to him: “George, you have all the potential in the world. Right now that’s all you have. I don’t insist that employees always agree with me, that they always be right, or that they do perfect work. What I do insist on is that employees accept ideas other than their own, that they are willing to acknowledge the need to learn, and that they recognize mistakes and correct them. You don’t – in the history of our relationship, the only person I’ve ever heard you listen to with respect is yourself. You’re the only person who can fix this. If you do, you’ll have a great future here. If you don’t you’ll have to find a different company where you can be a one-man band.” You have to get his attention before anything else useful can happen. You might also try this: “George, right now you’re a coder. If that’s all you ever want to be, good luck to you, and I hope you enjoy living in Bangalore, because that’s where the coding jobs are going. If you want to grow in this profession I can help you, but not if you keep on insisting that nobody else in the room knows anything worth listening to.” Whatever the specifics, you need to spell out, unapologetically, the following points: * He isn’t succeeding right now. * The reason he isn’t succeeding is his attitude, not his ability or potential. * He has to decide he wants to succeed and is willing to do what’s required to do so. * The organization has delegated the definition of his success to you. What I saw in your description of the situation is that you hinted. Hinting is a terrific strategy when you’re dealing with someone who is (a) hypersensitive, and (b) accustomed to reading between the lines. When you’re dealing with a mule, a board, applied with force, to the backside works better. Another thought: In many respects, George reminds me of me when I was somewhat younger. If I’m reading him right, what you’re seeing is overcompensation for insecurity – he’s figuring any admission that he has something to learn from others is a sign of weakness and poor ability. And one more: One other way to handle someone like George is to reassign him to an area where he can be a one-man band – where adhering to other people’s rules, procedures and standards doesn’t matter. If you happen to have this kind of situation in your organization, he might be a perfect fit. – Bob