There are certain pressures on a leader of a group or organization to “get things right.” After all, we’re usually looking for the right decisions, the right moves, the right hires; and these are all ways to get things right on the bigger picture.
Problems arise when the pressure to “get things right” gets interpreted (usually by the leadership) as the need to be right, and therefore to be right about most things.
Here are some questions about that.
Are things (decisions, moves, hires, etc.) either right or not right? Is there a continuum of “rightness” and some point at which something moves from being wrong to being right?
If there are right things, let’s say decisions, are they right when they’re made, or are the actions that happen after the decision has been made (the supports/training/resources/subsequent actions and decisions) what matter more in making something right?
Finally (for this short piece), in what ways does a leader get trapped or constrained by feeling she needs to get it right? How has she limited her thinking, put undue pressure on herself and others, and set a tone or culture that works against the best that she and her organization can be?
Problems arise when the pressure to “get things right” gets interpreted (usually by the leadership) as the need to be right, and therefore to be right about most things.
Here are some questions about that.
Are things (decisions, moves, hires, etc.) either right or not right? Is there a continuum of “rightness” and some point at which something moves from being wrong to being right?
If there are right things, let’s say decisions, are they right when they’re made, or are the actions that happen after the decision has been made (the supports/training/resources/subsequent actions and decisions) what matter more in making something right?
Finally (for this short piece), in what ways does a leader get trapped or constrained by feeling she needs to get it right? How has she limited her thinking, put undue pressure on herself and others, and set a tone or culture that works against the best that she and her organization can be?