There are many instances in today's society where one wonders, "What is that person thinking?" This question can be asked about someone's clothing, singing performance, or even career choice. How can anyone be so wrong about their judgment or knowledge? The purpose of this article is to provide some insights into how people can be so oblivious to their own incompetence. In 1999, David Dunning and Justin Kruger conducted studies to test the competence of individuals and the effect of competence or incompetence on self-evaluations. Dunning and Kruger stated: “…the skills that generate competence in a particular domain are often the same skills needed to assess competence in that domain, one's own or that of anyone else” (Kruger & Dunning, 1999, p.1121 ). Therefore, incompetent people lack metacognitive skills that are crucial for identifying their own performance. In all areas of life, there are people who are unaware of the deficit between what they think they can do and their actual abilities. Those who are less competent tend to overestimate their abilities while those who are more competent tend to underestimate them. Studies show that the lowest performers tend to overestimate their performance by approximately 30% (Hawes, 2010). Unskilled performers are said to have an “illusory superiority” that leads incompetent people to overestimate their abilities. This leads unskilled performers to “misrate their ability much higher than average (Lightfoot, 2012).” An example of the Dunning-Kruger effect was presented by Joe Lightfoot, director and co-founder of Move. Eat. Deal with. Lightfoot's example explains how most healthcare professionals are not knowledgeable enough to provide lifestyle advice... halfway through the document... to express critical feedback due to the social norms established in our culture. Fay, Jordan, and Ehrlinger (2012) state, “After a friend's imperfect piano recital, we might keep our criticisms to ourselves and, instead, imply that we enjoyed the performance immensely” (p. 206). A little criticism does a lot more good than a lot of empty praise. The Dunning-Kruger effect will continue to plague our society as long as we continue to follow social norms that encourage misleading feedback. Conclusion Obviously there is no specific way to deal with anyone who is incompetent. The goal, however, should be to raise awareness of potential incompetence. You should not assume that someone is incompetent because they are arrogant or competent because they are not confident. Instead, we should provide honest feedback to our colleagues while seeking the same honesty in others.