2019 HPRCT Conference

Functional stupidity is described in Mats Avelsson and André Spicer's 2016 book The Stupidity Paradox. Through describing its characteristics, highlighted through examples, it describes what they label functional stupidity. Recognizing that different circumstances demand different approaches, they counsel that functional stupidity is not universally bad, but that on the whole, we need to recognize it and be aware of our societal (and organizational) drift toward thoughtless conformity. This talk leverages this book and other resources to help illustrate the concept of functional stupidity, why we need to understand it, and what we can do about it for the betterment of our organizations, as well as ourselves and society as a whole.