Rate your skill level
Our management wanted to know the skill level of people in the department, so a questionnaire was created, which we all had to fill in. The questions were along the lines of What is your skill level in Windows/Linux/Mainframe
0 - I know nothing
1- There is a lot I do not understand
2 - I know a lot about it
We were told to answer the questions - and not to be too clever.
I had worked on the mainframe for over 30 years - and knew a lot about it. (People came to me for help) - but I knew there was so, so much I didnt know, so I put my self down as "1 There is a lot I do not understand"
The results were interesting.
The "experts" all came out as "need to develop their knowledge". The people who knew how to logon (and not much else) came out as "experts".
At first management were very happy, as they had some data. Some of us techies were asked to review the report and made comments like "give them a kernel dump, and they would not know where to start".
Us techies then rated the other people in the department, and the results were completely the opposite.
Management then realised they had asked the wrong question. They should have asked "do you have the knowledge to do your job" ( ie do you know which buttons to push) - but they gave up and this survey was never seen again.
We learned that you get what you ask for - so make sure you ask the right questions.