STFU #21 - When Caesar made his horse a senator (Incitatus) - Startups and their Hiring Mistakes

Incitatus (or Incato, as it was lovingly called) was the favorite horse of Roman Emperor Caligula, one of the original Caesars (37-41 AD).

Out of his love for him, he made the horse a priest. He decided that the horse would "invite" dignitaries to dine with him in a house outfitted with 18 servants there to entertain such events. Incato had a stable of marble, with an ivory manger, purple blankets (the color of royalty), and a collar of precious stones. 

In addition, his daily menu consisted of delicacies like oats mixed with gold flakes, squid, chicken, and even wine served in golden cups at the same table as the emperor.

Every night before the races, the emperor slept with Incato and ensured absolute silence throughout the city so that the little horse could rest properly. If anyone dared to make a tiny noise, they were severely punished.

He was named consul and was almost going to be named a senator before the Emperor died. Some history chapters claim that Caligula supposedly wanted to marry Incato as well!

Your ‘Incatos’?

I have nothing against pets, but with all due respect to animal lovers, or hippophiles (those who love horses), if both Caligula and Incato were in a startup, you would realize that sometimes leaders overestimate the capabilities of their favorites. 

Imagine this.

You start with a few key employees, who have more ‘fire in the belly’ than capability, and the resilience to grow with you. As you scale up, they also grow and mature. You also start building a team under them, elevate them to senior roles, give them more ESOPs, and keep promoting them. They become your ‘Incatos'. 

However, after a point, you realize that these ‘early employees’ are struggling to drive growth as you had planned. His team members start leaving, as they feel they are not learning, due to attitude or aptitude limitations. What do you do? What do you give more preference to - Loyalty or Performance? Intent or Content?

Has your colleague reached the Peter principle ceiling or is going through the Dunning-Kruger effect?

Peter Principle + Dunning Kruger + Imposter Syndrome

Peter Principle, a term coined in the 1960s by a Canadian professor (whose name was....Peter, of course) concluded that in every hierarchical structure, each employee rises to their level of incompetence. 

The best employees who are most trusted fill roles as a reward for their loyalty and efforts. As teams leave and the organization gets complex, the person is elevated to ensure there are minimal layers between you, the founder, and him. And then you realize that the person has risen to her level of incompetence. The person has reached a level in which her skills, talents, intelligence, and abilities are insufficient to handle their responsibilities.

From a rockstar to a liability?

Until recently, the person who was a rockstar envisaging the future of the organization with you is now becoming a challenge to retain. 

What do you do? Should you let go or reconfigure or respect the status quo?

To make things worse, some of these 'Peters', or team members under them, are unaware of their own incompetence. 

When your team members feel that they are ‘made for better things’ or ‘this place does not value me’, they are probably being the Dunning-Krugers! 

The Dunning-Kruger effect is for those suffering from illusory superiority, who think that they are better than the average around them. They might be smart, but they also tend to undermine the intelligence of others around them - making others feel dumb or adding stress to the system.

In some cases, the founders themselves go through the Dunning-Kruger effect, where they believe that they know all the answers. I myself am a victim of that unless someone checks me. Thankfully, am fortunate to have colleagues who not only avoid being victims of this effect themselves but also check me on being a victim sometimes.

Did you make a mistake in joining us?

The opposite of the Peter Principle and Dunning-Kruger effect is the imposter syndrome. This is when smart, capable people underestimate their abilities. This takes a toll on people. They feel they don’t deserve the job they’re holding. Even though women are more likely to be affected by impostor syndrome, men are also likely to be victims. Perfectionists and those with an external locus of control (those who need constant external appreciation) tend to be victims of this syndrome more often than others.

So you have people in your team who are loyal but incompetent and becoming misfits (Peters), those who are overconfident in their abilities and thinking of quitting because others are ‘misfits’ (Dunning-Krugers), or those who are truly capable but assuming they are misfits (Imposters). How do you balance these?

At True Elements , we have a different way of onboarding. New Hires are thrown into the water and then checked on their swimming skills. While we have iterated on this, there are many who either become victims of Imposter Syndrome or the Dunning Kruger Effect. We take feedback and build on that, but also constantly engage at varying levels to ‘correct’ and iterate the system. Compensation and growth, both are role-based, but there is a constant juggling between the ‘intent’ and ‘content’ of every individual. Balancing these two is what keeps us busy!

Incidentally, we keep saying that our team changes their organization every 1.5 years, so you have to upgrade yourself for the new organization -  either be the talent yourself who would replace the 'earlier' you or let someone else replace you. This includes Sreejith Moolayil and me also!

What can leaders/founders do?

Some ways to resolve these include Engagement with colleagues, regular feedback and not alluding to ‘luck’ in case of conflicts.

As for founders, investing in upskilling, coaching and mentoring is a way to keep the Peters out and get the imposters in.

Intellectual humility is critical as well, but this is something I will talk about next week. (Something that Japanese and Germans can teach us!)

In summary, (without sounding too narcissistic), while the Caligula in you identifies the Incatos around you, remember that it is fine to drink wine with them, and give them 18 servants, but they might just struggle to be Senators or Priests. 

So, find your Peters, remove the Dunning-Krugers, and protect the Imposters. 

Stfu!

References: Incitatus, Culture Colectiva, Forbes, Jack Kelly, Dunning-Kruger Effect | Images: Dunning Kruger effect, Peter Principle, Incato