Marshall MacLuhan, he of “medium is the message” fame, also wrote of “the mixed media effect,” which is the usually unwarranted assumption that an expert in one niche is an expert in all things.
Hence, we hear actors pontificating about politics, often incoherently (I refer you to Barbra Streisand’s web site during the past election), and business people sounding off about societal norms (I refer you to almost anything Donald Trump has ever said). Occasionally, you will meet a true polymorph, expert in a wide diversity of fields. More probably, you’ll meet someone who is simply accustomed to being listened to in one area and expects such deference in all others.
That is very frequently the case with business managers. Because they are expert in sales, or R&D, or call centers, or facilities maintenance, they believe themselves to be equally adept at interviewing, compensation practices, succession planning, and menu choices in the cafeteria. It just ain’t so.
One of the fundamental responsibilities of human resource professionals is to help their clients delineate between their expertise and their expectations, between their occupation and avocation. The best way, for example, to demonstrate to a financial vice president that she doesn’t know how to interview people is to provide her with examples of behavioral interviewing skills, illegal questions, and so on.
Similarly, the CEO might just believe that he can instill motivation by shouting at people from the stage, using some humor in meetings, or reconfiguring the compensation system, and it’s vital that HR demonstrate, for example, that unhappier employees given more money are merely wealthier unhappy employees.
This “mixed media effect” is killing a lot of organizations because charismatic leaders can easily become cataclysmic if not checked. Have you ever noticed that someone in high office often raises his or her voice when challenged in areas they are not well-versed in, substituting volume for accuracy? Don’t buy it. You’re doing everyone a favor and best fulfilling the HR role when you herd people back to their strength corrals and stop them from trampling the countryside.
Don’t let this inadvertent “trash talking” continue unabated, because when someone claims expertise in all areas, they have stopped listening to all people.




© Alan Weiss 2005 All rights reserved.

Alan Weiss is an OD consultant for Fortune 500 organizations, a very popular keynote speaker, and the author of 23 books published in six languages. He serves on several boards, including The Harvard Center for Mental Health and the Media. You can reach him via his web site, http://www.summitconsulting.com. His newest book, The Million Dollar Consultant’s™ Toolbox, will be released by John Wiley later this year.