Types Of People Who Fail In Finance Part II
- The Error-Prone Dummy
The error-prone dummy is typically a junior analyst or junior associate that had connections and got into the firm through the back door. He or she went to the same college as the interviewer, or has a dad who is an investor in the company. You won’t find senior people that are error-prone dummies because they’ve already been ushered out, even with their connections. Accuracy, dependability and reliability are critical success factors in finance. Unfortunately, the error-prone dummy spends time daydreaming about prospective nighttime activities or is more interested in college football scores than work. His or her work product suffers, and the team is stuck wasting time doing re-work or researching what went wrong.
- Why they fail:
They get fired because doing so is an effective cost-saving correction action. Error-prone dummies are not able to catch redundant adjustments, incorrect industry assumptions, overly optimistic forecasts and missed calculations. If finance is viewed as a game of football, then the error-prone dummy is equivalent to a player who never catches a pass or fumbles the ball when he or she does catch it.