5 Ways to Deal With an Incompetent Boss To make sure we're on the same page about dealing with an incompetent boss and not just a way to be nasty about your bad boss, let's get on the same page. An incompetent person is someone who is functionally inadequate or insufficient in knowledge, skills, judgment, or strength. If this is what you're talking about then you're right, they are incompetent. It happens. In other words, the boss doesn't know squat about being a manager and probably knows little to nothing about the area of work you do. While it can be frustrating to have an incompetent boss, an incompetent boss can seriously damage or derail your career. If they do have a serious lack of knowledge, we know that they can do nothing to grow you as an employee which means any growth will be yours to make happen. Let's look at the potential damage they can inflict and what you can do to minimize or avoid. Career Impact: Bad decisions -- Because they don't know your work, the decisions they make can have an impact they are clueless about. They lack insight and understanding. This means the impact to you can range from cleaning up a mess to putting you in a position that makes you look like you tanked the business. It can make you lose precious time and focus or even get fired . Bad direction -- We look for our boss to provide direction in the