Why Are The Worst Possible People Always In Charge?

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Abstract

easy to use. All of us saw excel sheets at some point in our lives. And here is the best part — any decent app offers an integration with Google products. So, maybe, just maybe, you don’t even need a developer to start collecting data from your vendors, or create a simple contacts database that can be embedded in your CRM.</p><h2 id="d797">Google Forms</h2><p id="f556">It all starts with <a href="https://www.google.com/forms/about/">Google Forms </a>where you can use a drag and drop builder to create a form for data entry or a survey. Those forms are easy to share and embed on almost any third-party website. They are lightweight, customizable, and just easy to work with.</p><figure id="5e65"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*4ByT335dOejVUI5G71tyMw.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p id="b623">For this example, I chose the Contact Information template. My plan is to create a simple form for data entry and embed it on my hypothetical intranet website. The idea is to allow employees to enter the contact information of people they work with. But where do we store all this data? Here is where <a href="https://www.google.com/sheets/about/">Google Sheets</a> come into play.</p><h2 id="e1eb">Google Sheets</h2><p id="5c80">Once my form is ready, I move to the second tab called Responses and add a source for this form. I can connect a new spreadsheet that has all the columns defined automatically (they will match the names of the fields in my form). The sheet will be populated automatically.</p><figure id="17d9"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*3qsRhHD7hYWVs5VKC2yijw.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="4eb9"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*yOKcgU4J7y8J2Z5upwgpaQ.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p id="

Options

e2ef">And just like that, I have a new spreadsheet that will keep all entered information from the form in one place. Now, everything is neatly organized and easily searchable. If I want, I can add more forms in the future that point to the same sheet or create a new sheet for each new form.</p><figure id="1482"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*naCwfvtuQc5WMpTNjirTLQ.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p id="9b42">I can also share this spreadsheet with others or, to take it even further, use Sheets API to display this data in any way I like on my Intranet website. And my client-facing website. Anywhere, actually.</p><div id="658a" class="link-block"> <a href="https://developers.google.com/sheets/api"> <div> <div> <h2>Sheets API | Google Developers</h2> <div><h3>The Google Sheets API lets you read, write, and format Google Sheets data with your preferred programming language…</h3></div> <div><p>developers.google.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*JfkvTo8HOGQPyxsY)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h2 id="6517">Google Analytics</h2><p id="1afb"><a href="https://analytics.google.com/">Google Analytics</a> is the final and optional piece of this simple puzzle. In this example, I don’t really need to track who entered what, but I can think of many other use cases where analytics is needed. Google Analytics is a real powerhouse and it integrates with Google Forms easily. If you use Google Forms to collect feedback from your clients or to hire people, for example, you’ll benefit from having nice charts and more in-depth data.</p></article></body>

Ignorance, arrogance, apathy and stupidity: Most decision-makers display at least one of these faults

You know it’s true. The people making decisions are almost always very bad at it.

In the workplace, almost everybody can tell a story about a higher-up making a decision that the workers knew would never work.

First, we have ignorance. This is what happens when the highly educated person in charge assumes only he (or she) is smart enough to make decisions but is completely ignorant of the actual situation. All the underlings are assumed to be dumber than dirt, so they’re never consulted.

Factory Boss

“There’s always one Negative Nancy in every group. You guys will figure it out!”

Result: One month later, the brand new and worthless thingamajig gathers dust in a corner of the warehouse.

Next, we have arrogance. This is when the decision-maker believes he (or she) knows better than anyone else. Nobody else can be trusted to make a decision.

Travel Committee Dude, two days before the conference begins

“We approved and booked your trip. Tickets are $1,900 now.”

Result: By running this routine request by the bean counters, the last-minute tickets cost an additional $1,600. Nice savings!

Apathy is everywhere, too. Why are we not even being asked to wear masks in public anymore? It’s because of apathy. People just don’t care enough to protect themselves or others anymore. They’re done with Covid, even though Covid is certainly not done with them. The authorities are tired of fighting the ignorant.

And, of course, we have stupidity. This is how we generally elect our political leaders. The votes will be made by a small number of very informed voters who will make careful, well-thought-out decisions and a huge number of ignorant voters who will make their decisions based on discredited YouTube videos, misleading campaign mailings, online conspiracy theories and the ridiculous messages put forth by politicians pandering to the ill-informed.

As you consume the news, you’ll see what I mean:

Take a look at the decision of Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who actually showed up at the scene without his radio or other communications equipment. He chose not to send police into the school to rescue the children who were calling 911 and begging for help. The parents outside were also begging the police to go inside and save their children. Arredondo held firm. He believed he knew the best course, even though he’d shown up without a radio. Did he know terrified children were alive and begging for help as he held firm in his decision not to send in cops? Parents will always wonder whether their children could have been saved if Arredondo had made better decisions.

Review the baby formula shortage. New reporting from the Wall Street Journal says Abbott Laboratories knew about problems at a formula plant in February 2021. Who decided not to follow up at that time? For that matter, who decided not to be more proactive in making sure the formula was being safely produced in the first place? Was it apathy, ignorance or arrogance?

Think of all the no-knock warrants in which police have raided the wrong house, causing untold problems for innocent people. What mix of apathy, ignorance, and arrogance would you assign?

Listen as the people around you display their ignorance about economics, inflation, supply chains, elections, immunology, the geopolitical situations in Russia and Ukraine, OPEC, and climate change, and then announce they’re voting for Candidate X because he’s going to be able to magically change one thing or another.

In most cases, bad decisions come from a mix of ignorance, arrogance, apathy, and stupidity. And it feels like it’s getting worse, not better. Everything feels so hopeless like it might not even matter what kind of decision you ultimately make.

I’d like to say we all need to learn to make better decisions.

But nobody cares.

So flip a coin and move on.

THE WORLD

Why Are The Worst Possible People Always In Charge?

Ignorance, arrogance, apathy and stupidity: Most decision-makers display at least one of these faults

Factory Boss

Factory Underling

Factory Boss

Underling

Boss

Underling

Travel Committee Dude, two days before the conference begins

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