Here’s something that’s been rattling around in my brain while I’m reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers. He writes about this concept called the “Holy Fool” and honestly, it might be the most accurate description of what makes a great loss prevention professional that I’ve ever come across.
So what the heck is a Holy Fool?
Gladwell describes the Holy Fool as someone who operates under the assumption that everyone is lying. Not in a cynical, bitter way, but as a default setting. They don’t trust at face value. They dig deeper. They ask the uncomfortable questions. They’re the person in the room who says, “Wait, that doesn’t add up.”
Sound familiar? It should.
In Gladwell’s book, he talks about how most of us are wired to default to truth. We assume people are being honest until proven otherwise. It’s actually a survival mechanism that helps society function. But here’s the kicker: this default setting is exactly what makes us vulnerable to deception.
The Holy Fool flips this script. They start from a place of healthy skepticism and work their way toward trust, not the other way around.
Why this matters for your daily grind
Think about your last internal investigation. How many times did you hear, “I would never have suspected them, they seemed so trustworthy”? Or remember that vendor who had all the right answers and references, but something just felt off? Your gut was playing Holy Fool, even if you didn’t realize it.
The best loss prevention professionals I know, and I mean the ones who consistently crack the tough cases or think differently about a specific business problem, they all have this Holy Fool mentality baked into their DNA. They don’t take the first story they hear as gospel. They don’t assume the obvious suspect is always the right one. They question everything, especially when it seems too neat and tidy.
But here’s where it gets tricky
Being a Holy Fool in loss prevention doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk. It doesn’t mean treating every employee like a criminal or making everyone feel like they’re under suspicion. The best Holy Fools are actually incredibly empathetic. They understand human nature precisely because they study it so closely.
They know that good people can make bad choices under pressure. They know that sometimes the person who seems the most helpful is trying to deflect attention. They know that patterns matter more than individual incidents.
The Holy Fool in action
Remember that case where the cash shortages kept happening on different shifts, but always seemed to involve the same register? Everyone assumed it was a mechanical issue because the shortages were “random.” But the Holy Fool in your department probably would have mapped out every single transaction, every employee who touched that register, every time someone had access to the cash drawer.
Or think about that employee who was always the first to report suspicious behavior from coworkers. Most people would think, “Great, we have an engaged employee looking out for us.” The Holy Fool would think, “Why is this person so eager to point fingers? What are they trying to hide?”
The gift and the curse
Here’s the thing about being a Holy Fool in this industry. It’s exhausting. You’re constantly questioning, constantly digging, constantly being the person who won’t just accept the easy answer. Your brain never really gets to rest because you’re always looking for the story behind the story.
But it’s also your superpower. While everyone else is defaulting to truth, you’re seeing the patterns others miss. You’re asking the questions that need to be asked. You’re the reason your organization doesn’t get blindsided by the fraud that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Embrace your inner Holy Fool
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Yeah, that sounds like me,” then congratulations. You’ve found your calling. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for being the person who asks the hard questions or doesn’t take things at face value.
And if you’re thinking, “I need to be more like this,” then start small. Next time someone gives you an explanation that seems perfectly reasonable, ask yourself: “What would I need to see to actually believe this?” Then go look for that evidence.
The Holy Fool isn’t about being negative or suspicious of everyone. It’s about being rigorous in your pursuit of truth. It’s about understanding that in our line of work, the cost of being wrong is too high to just hope for the best.
So go ahead, be the Holy Fool. Question everything. Trust but verify. And remember, in a world full of people defaulting to truth, someone needs to be asking if the emperor is actually wearing clothes.
Your organization is counting on it.