Incompetence

Incompetence is the inability to perform expected tasks or duties. More generally, it is a term that indicates the ineffectiveness of a subject or system in relation to its universe. It can have several meanings: social, economic, systemic and even in nature. It is the opposite of competence which is being skilled or capable of something, or the opposite of the concept of competitiveness.

The Peter principle is a controversial and oversimplified concept that postulates that talented employees are promoted until they are given a managerial job they are not good at and thus "reach their level of incompetence".

Incompetence can be both conscious and unconscious, that is, whether one is aware of one's own incompetence or not. It has been argued that unconscious incompetence can flourish more easily in workplaces where everyone has the same education.

Incompetence is sometimes seen alongside overconfidence, known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, which claims that incompetent people often grossly overestimate their abilities.