Working for the Village Idiot

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In medieval times there were people who were cast out, despised, ridiculed, and mocked; these people were commonly known as the village idiots. Where are these village idiots in our communities today? It is my contention that they can be found in the ranks of the middle management, known as the team lead, playing at shift supervisors, even pretending to be the front-line supervisor, or even the department manager. The pointy haired manager in the Dilbert comic is one image of a modern day village idiot, due to the chaos caused by his fascinating management ability. The modern day village idiot can be defined as a person who is known in their community for their stupidity and ignorant behavior; in this case the community is the office, and everyone usually knows who these people are, and try to avoid working for them as much as possible. But there is always the chance you cannot avoid the privilege of having to work for one or two.

At a company where I was working the following email was sent between a team member and the team lead: team member -“I was just looking at the milestone document and have noticed we only have 13 working days before this application should be completed and we are far from being near completion. I was wondering if we are going to meet this deadline. Or has the deadline been postponed? If the latter, what is the new date? If not what do we need to do to meet the scheduled date? I’m just curious; let me know if there is anything I can do.” The response is classic, a real gem; the team lead, bless their simpleton soul, replied “We can only test what we have been given. Thanks for the concern”. Is there any better answer that could have been given? I think not, the clarity in which each question was handled, the clear direction which was given, and the listing of the abundant opportunities which needed to be handled before the deadline, surpasses anything that could be imagined. Is avoidance to answering questions a typical village idiot reaction? I think so. I believe that the village idiot gets so confused when questioned that they say the first thing which comes to mind.

A friend of mine was called into his boss’s office where his boss informed him that he was being charged a half day of PTO (paid time off) for the previous day. It seems that after working 10 hours my friend left for the day at 2:30 p.m. Since he left before 5 p.m. the boss had to charge him for a half of a day PTO. In defending himself, my friend told his boss that he did work a full day and argued that he should not be charge the PTO. In another classic response this manager, bless their simpleton soul, said “I worked here for four years before I took anytime off.” Boy, what a reason, because I am a village idiot, you must be one too. Oh by the way I’m the boss so I will punish you for being more intelligent than me.

How do these people advance to such levels of responsibilities? I honestly believe that the Peter Principle – where an individual is promoted to their level of incompetence – is alive and well in corporate America.

So what does all this have to do with software quality assurance? It is that we all have known or have work for the village idiot. So how do we deal with the village idiot? Well, you can pick on them behind their back, when their not snooping around trying to figure out whom you’re talking about, which they always think is them. You can involve them in your group and let them be the court jester. You can even take the time to get to understand them – my wife would be proud of me for suggesting that one. You know that rule you were taught as a kid but seem to forget as a teenage and are reminded about it as an adult as you teach your kids, yeah that’s the one “do unto to others as you would have others do unto you."

Since there is only one way to survive the village idiot, sit back, relax, and just laugh. Enjoy the adventure because the village idiot will do something else tomorrow that will make you shake your head and question your sanity.

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