I had an interesting conversation with a friend about the unique challenge of supervising a very smart person. My friend asked for my advice, so I did a little research and I did a little thinking, and since I’ve been a lifelong fan of Sherlock Holmes (and have recently been listening to Stephen Fry’s incredible rendition on Audible), I decided to put the question in a Sherlockian frame.
Here are my thoughts.
Smart does not mean ethical. Be on guard: the smart person might be hiding their mistakes. (Of course the “real” Sherlock is a very ethical fellow.)
You set the what and the why. Allow Sherlock to figure out the how.
Give Sherlock some rein, and let him take risks, but have his back if things don’t go well.
If you don’t take Sherlock’s advice, have an explanation for why. That’s a good practice in general, but it’s particularly important for dealing with smart people. They’re sure the world would be much better if everyone followed their advice.
Sherlock needs to be challenged. Otherwise he turns to cocaine. Life is so boring without a challenge.
Sherlock sometimes tries to make Watson (and Gregson and Lestrade and just about anyone else) feel stupid. Managers need to step in and quash that or else Watson et al. will be demoralized. Showing off is bad enough, but can be tolerable. It can’t get to the point of belittling others.
Sherlock has a hard time delegating, because he’s so much better (at everything). And when he does delegate, he criticizes the work product, since he could have done better. One possible remedy is to make Sherlock do the menial work, and when he complains tell him the price of less menial work is to accept the work of others without criticism.
What do you think? Add your ideas in the comments.
