The industrious know-it-all
Your most dangerous employee?

Confident, highly intelligent and well spoken workaholic. Involved in all important decisions, seems to have answer to everything yet avoids answering detailed questions about his methods. Highly argumentative, uses facts and figures to battle complex arguments. Takes few holidays, and sends emails at weekends. Monopolises conversations. Seems so crucial he must be irreplaceable.
Sounds like someone you know at your workplace? You probably dread meetings with him due to his judgmental and dismissive approach if you’re in an opposing view.
Every project I have worked at, there is always one, never more than one. He is typically the person that advices the final decisions. After a while you get accustomed to identifying him, he is supremely confident in all subjects — even at your speciality. He seems immune to self doubt.
I have seen him single handedly break a large programme of work, if you are lucky the damage caused is localised. Why he is particularly dangerous in position of power is his tendency to over simplify or incorrectly solve complex problems with a simple formula that worked once before, and these solutions are frequently decided on the spot and they have severe far reaching consequences. He is also dangerous for another reason, as his method relies on barrage of facts and historical anecdotes — he has tendency to mute staff who have new and untested ideas. He is an innovation killer.
When he is gone — there is a sudden change in air, people are smiling more and meetings are more jovial. He rarely goes on his own accord, I have seen him been marched out by security more than once. After a while people feel confident enough to say what they thought of him as they are not afraid anymore. That is the sign that the right decision has been made — the emperor indeed was not wearing any clothes.
