Nonetheless, under his leadership, project initiatives began to stall. We missed deadlines, and we neglected opportunities for grant funding. Soon our clients began signing up with competitors, and we had to resort to layoffs. The first victims: productive staff members, not the Doc.

Eventually, when there was no one left to blame, Doctor T resigned. A short article in the local paper mentioned his school name, and I sent an e-mail to its registrar. By now I wasn't surprised to discover that he had no advanced degree. He had dropped out. A successful company had been pushed to the brink of failure by someone who had no business being there in the first place.

In the past few years, we've struggled back to our previous level of business, and our credential department now has the ultimate say on all hires. There's no question that the most successful IT departments are based on the knowledge and experience of their staff, but that works both ways. People are the best resource ... or the worst.