What do you think of weaponised/strategic incompetence? How often do you come across it?

3 comments

1. I have no patience for me, and the teacher in me aggressively shows people how to do things better

2. I only know one person who actually used this. Everyone else was just honestly and truly overwhelmed or didn’t know what to do and casually (falsely) accused of being manipulative/using weaponized incompetence

3. I’ve come across it both within my family and with friends. Growing up (and to this day) my brothers act like they can’t do basic chores or do it really badly forcing my mother to step in. Until my late teens I was encouraged to step in and help too (“women just do these things better”) but thankfully realised it for what it was and stopped helping. I did the same for my male friends who always expected me to organise any trips or outings (which I used to do because they would purposefully act obtuse about basic things like booking flights and applying for visas). Unfortunately, I didn’t see this latter behaviour from my friends for what it was until my late 20s. It was amazing to see how differently those male friends acted with me when they realised I was no longer their go to helper.