I almost cried when I read this excellent article: “Of Cell Phones, Maps and Mental Models: Why Doing What Was Right Is Sometimes Completely Wrong” from the Wharton website.
This article hits it squarely on the head. It is an excerpt from the book: “It Starts with One: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations” by authors J. Stewart Black and Hal B. Gregersen.
I am terrified to read the book. I might weep. Many times, we wonder why great leaders fumble. We look at the great companies and watch them fall. The Chinese have a saying “The bystander sees the clearest”. Why then, do these brilliant leaders fail to see?
From the corporate level, to the division level, down to the departmental level and even to individuals; the principles apply. We are blinded by the light of what we currently know. You should go read the article. Heck, buy the book: Starts with One, It: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations
Consider the transition from individual contributor to manager of individual contributors. Managers consistently tell us it is one of the most difficult. Why? Simplified, as an individual contributor you get things done by doing them yourself. If you are a salesperson, you get the sale by going out and making the pitch and closing the deal yourself. Over time, you establish a personalized set of maps for navigating this individual contributor territory. However, as a sales team manager, you must transition from doing things yourself to getting them done through others; you must change from motivating yourself to motivating others. Because the situation has changed (you’ve been promoted), what was clearly the right thing before (i.e., doing things yourself) has become the wrong thing, but you are still very good at doing it.
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