Serious question: What actually goes wrong, in concrete terms, if you explain that you're leaving because you don't want to work with someone who is aggressively incompetent? I get that people won't like it, but how am I actually harmed by speaking the truth? I've heard a lot of wishy-washy answers about burning bridges, but I have trouble making myself believe that's enough reason to let someone continue fucking shit up when they might be stopped if someone just knew what was happening.
Edit: Assume I've already accepted the risk of slightly lower lifetime earnings due to following principles rather than the money.
Slightly lower lifetime earnings? How would that happen?
It might happen if word ever got back to the aggressively incompetent one, and he (maybe it's a stereotype, but I'll assume male gender given the description of the behavior) was in some position of influence at a future job of yours. Well, people do change, sometimes even for the better, but I'd think twice before hiring at such a place in the future.
Or, managers believe him instead of you (or choose to keep him in place and blame you for the message that they didn't like), and those managers wind up at a future place. Same story - it's your cue to not work there.
If this burns you, it burns you at places you didn't want to work for anyway.
Note well: If it's a small job market, this may be a more costly action.
> Slightly lower lifetime earnings? How would that happen?
"Something something burned bridges something opportunities something", I expect. I don't know, it just seems like something the "keep it to yourself" crowd would warn me about. I really want to believe you, which is why I'm looking for good counter arguments (I swear I don't only do this in comment threads about intellectual humility).
I no longer have a stake in the game, true. But there are a bunch of people there who deserve better than to have their work lives ruined by someone else's aggressive ignorance. Some of those people I might even regard as friends. Sure, I have nothing to gain for me. I don't tell the truth about why I left for me. I tell it so that it might help others.
