Some suggestions (Do and Don’t) for subordinates may help:

Do: Subordinate should:

--- Help your boss do his/ her job — see yourself as a complement

--- Find something you genuinely respect about him/her

--- Seek out other mentors to help you learn and grow

Don’t: Subordinate shouldn’t:

--- Assume that you’re more qualified than your boss— chances are she has some skills you don’t

--- Try to take over her job — bosses usually win

--- Cover up egregious mistakes or a long-standing pattern of ineptitude

https://hbr.org/2014/12/what-to-do-if-youre-smarter-than-your-boss&cm_sp=Article-_-Links-_-Top%20of%20Page%20Recirculation

Some suggestions (Do and Don’t) for subordinates may help:

Do: Subordinate should:

--- Help your boss do his/ her job — see yourself as a complement

--- Find something you genuinely respect about him/her

--- Seek out other mentors to help you learn and grow

Don’t: Subordinate shouldn’t:

--- Assume that you’re more qualified than your boss— chances are she has some skills you don’t

--- Try to take over her job — bosses usually win

--- Cover up egregious mistakes or a long-standing pattern of ineptitude

https://hbr.org/2014/12/what-to-do-if-youre-smarter-than-your-boss&cm_sp=Article-_-Links-_-Top%20of%20Page%20Recirculation

As he is my boss........ i will respect him, Assuming he is always smarter than me and this is the only way i could learn new things from him...moreover i will follow Do and Don't do suggested by you.....

Dear Prof. Kundu,

Thanks for this insightful question! But I'm going to turn it over. I mean, every manager should be happy to have the smartest of the smartest people in his team, and it is not a disaster if they are smarter than him. (This is especially true for the universities and other research centers: There are many examples of "beautiful minds", with high IQ, who just do not strive to be managers.)

If one is a good manager, he/she will make smart employees do their best for the success of the company. Some economists say "Employee is the king". And I believe, that smart people will be happy to work for a GOOD manager or leader. Anyway, it depends a lot on the culture and policies of the company.

My best wishes from Varna, Bulgaria :)

Dear Nadezhda Filipova,

You are very right. You are explaining very mature state of affaires.

Take the circumstance:

In corporate sector, Boss is fearful to delegate to a smarter and intelligent subordinate.

What to do in this case? How the subordinate should behave? What cares the subordinate should take?

Thanks

Dear Prof. Kundu,

As I said, it depends a lot on the culture and policies of the company, and on the style of manager.

If the manager is afraid of smarter employees, and does not need their potentialities (poor for him, the ship is sinking), then, in my humble opinion, one has two choices:

1) move into another place, or

2) become less smarter and follow the stream.

This is a kind of adaptation and survival under the influence of circumstances.

I myself, do believe that there are various means to motivate smart employees to contribute for the prosperity of the company. But, I have never been a boss, and I guess you know better. Just share :)

Respectfully yours,

N.F.

I fully agree with Nadezhda Filipova... Except for one point: follow the stream and become less smarter... This is not an option to me and as previously said I really enjoyed in my career to give place to some smart and efficient surgeons, mostly in fields that were not my preference. No problem to do so and the ward looked calm and efficient. If you can't do that, it means that your boss is a tyrant... There are effectively a few!

The best to U all

Sometimes relations between bosses and sub-ordinates are defined by not only their knowledge and experience, but due to a number of personal relations. These personal relations might be included of positive or negative competitions also. Sub-ordinates have to follow their bosses. This all is well for third party, but for the sub-ordinates sometimes the situations becomes very hard.

I have seen the reverse situation of it also i.e. knowledge of sub-ordinates being too much lower than the expected. In that cases, bosses have to be in trouble.

I think that rigorous selection of candidates and appropriate promotion policy in organizations- can maintain the balance between subordinates and bosses.

Yes, Prabhat,

It is also true. Poor subordinates are also a problem, here boss can develop them and can manage training program/s for upgrade them.

I would also like to agree with Prabhat. Sometimes it is extremely difficult to find the right employees - competent, loyal, team players, good people ..., to preserve them, and even to raise their qualification.

Never bow to the threats, thats the only way to build up your inner future... And have the courage to follow your own path, whatever it will be...

The smarter employee shouldn't show to the boss that she/he is smarter. But we, mathematicians, would ask: who determines who is smarter and on what scale?

Please remember: everything is relative. Yes, A. Einstein's theory of relativity applies to  real life as well! From the boss's viewpoint he is smarter, and from the employee's viewpoint he thinks this way about himself.

Dear Natalia,

You are right. One may think so about oneself.

But, at working place, it is visible by how one works, how one thinks, how one take decisions, how one behaves ... ?

@Natalia S Duxbury:

There is difference between natural sciences and social sciences. Actually social sciences are based on integration of much number of probabilities, therefore results in those subjects are more different than expected. For an example, economical status of families in a region may be based on geographical factors, political systems, any concurrent incidents and even on social structures of them. Predictions in social sciences are less accurate, but more complex.

And therefore rules of mathematics can be applied in social sciences in much complicated ways. Rules of mathematics can not fail as it are based on universal laws of formulated logic.

have you considered about the cases where employers have a policy to select less efficient staff due to rules and obligations.

In India, government has a policy to select people for government posts from weaker sections of the society to uplift their social and economical backgrounds. People selected on such bases, know about their knowledge quality and therefore they know that they are less smarter. Such policies certainly create possibilities where boss' knowledge is inferior (sometimes) than sub-ordinates on the official issues. I don't wish to discuss social impacts of these policies which may be negative or positive.

Human society is very complex and application of mathematics and statistics goes to use the rules of PROBABILITY.

However I am agree with you that view points are different for different people.   

Thanks @Subhash C. Kundu for this question. It recalled a short exchange between two managers for me - illustrating a related dilemma from unknown source.

The first asks: "Why should I train my people? They may leave upon learning."

The second retorts: "What would happen if you do not train them and they stay?"

Good, Dear Pieter van de Griend,

Perception matters! Good bosses train the subordinates.

Dear Dr. Subhash,

Good question related to a real life situation. I totally agree with your Dos and Don'ts.

I have two points to mention:

1. I have seen some people who are supposed to be the smartest 1% of the world (MENSA members based on IQ tests) and the same question was raised during a discussion. If I remember the exact words it was like: " How to survive in a world that does not even understand what you want to say without pretending". Some of these guys mastered acting skills actually.  

2. Wisdom is as important as smartness. Without wisdom even the smartest person in the world can not deliver anything since at the end of the day he/she needs to deal with people in different circumstances/situations. 

I do not advise of survival strategy in a such situation since it ends in a loss to human race (waste of a brain that can deliver something serves the humanity). I strongly recommend movement.

I once heard a speech for Brian Tracy and he mentioned "select your boss carefully".

Thanks for raising such an important question.

Knowledge creates wisdom and wisdom is essential for enlightenment. Enlighten people have discretionary abilities.

These all are essential to sustainable development on the Earth and bosses & leaders be capable to be much intelligent to move their sub-ordinates in right direction.

However this ideal situation is not in the community as most of the people serve for themselves (at the place of social and national interests).  

Dear Khaldoon Al-Obaidi, and Prabhat Ranjan,

Thanks for valuable comments.

Be cool and see how Boss is utilizing you knowledge for the benefit of his business.

If boss can utilize subordinates' capabilities, it would be better, Dear Mahamad.

To avoid the confrontation, subordinates should not try to take over his/her work — as bosses usually win.

Yes, Dear  George Stoica.

How subordinate can lead the boss? There may be a behavioural accident.

If the subordinate is smarter one can persuade the boss diplomatically - with detailed arguments- that one's idea is the one to go with.

That avoids confrontation in which case the boss will win (I should have known that when it happened to me!).

If the idea turns out positive development the subordinate will feel good, but also the boss, because he was convinced and he agreed with the idea. Both win!

Dear Michael Issigonis,

You are right. Good contribution.

Remain positive and help the boss!

Every next generation is smarter than the earlier one.

Help and be supportive to your boss do his/ her job — consider  yourself as a complement.

Unfortunately, this is a common problem in developing countries!

Yes, Dear Nader,

It is!