Recently I worked on a project and I need to work with the clients' team. One of the team members Mimi is considered by all of her colleagues as a dumb. When I worked with her, I found that she has normal IQ yet she always makes silly mistakes and upsets everybody. I am so curious about what made her become a fool.
Then I review the whatsapp messages and emails she sent out. And I found that her messages can be grouped under three categories: 1) Wrong interpretations 2) Show Off 3) Excuses. And most of the messages are under Category 2: Showing Off. She wants to let people know that she is smarter and has brighter ideas. When she read our messages, her intention is not to understand, but to find faults or seek opportunities to show off. For example, when we confirmed that we should communicate with the suppliers by emails only, she jumped out and told us about how she successfully convinced the client. Then she confirmed a deal with a vendor over the phone! When we asked everyone to check the details of the promotional leaflet, she responded immediately that the font size is not correct. After we sent out the leaflet, we found out that a piece of information is incorrect (this was provided by her).
This project is not complicated and the information is not too difficult to understand. However, when a person's intention is not to understand the contents but to fulfil their ego, he/she cannot learn anything. Mimi wants to be seen as smart and brilliant yet her behaviours make her look stupid instead.
Then I realise that our personalities sometimes limit our ability of understanding and learning. Some people pay too much attention of worrying instead of clarifying the information. Some people wants to defend their views instead of accepting new ideas. We are busy with defending our self image rather than being open to new ideas and information.
If you want to be wise and intelligent, put down our self images and be curious. We will discover new wisdom and learn new things.