Monday, June 4, 2007

Wanted: Must be friendly, competence not necessary

I was looking over some of the articles over at Yahoo Finance and came across one on making yourself more likeable at work. I am from the school of thought that I don't go to work to make friends, I go to work to make money. This doesn't mean that I go to work and be foul to everyone, I just don't need to hang out with my co-workers after work for happy hour. So, imagine my shock when reading this in the article:
In fact, a 2005 study published in the Harvard Business Review shows that people would rather work with someone they like who's incompetent than someone who's competent but not likable.

Wow. Now, from a business standpoint this seems rather stupid. Purposely hiring incompetent people just because they have a likeable personality? Maybe I don't have the same definition of work as most people. See, I thought I was getting paid to perform a set of tasks, not make buddies.

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