Awakening Leadership

Published on May 22, 2017 ? Updated on October 29, 2017

The magic

When a brilliant leader fulfils the role, the best contribute of each team player is combined with those of the others ones and the overall result will be better than the best single one in the group.

Success is never granted

Anyway, success is not always granted even with the best preconditions for many reasons which the most important is that the vision always diverged from the implementation. 

They diverge because circumstances, misunderstanding, mistakes, lack or excess of control, tactic and strategy mismatch, lack or unreliable communication, felony and moronity, last but not least the subtle and evil contribute of stupidy.

Leaded by consensus

When the group is lead by consensus and the group is bigger than a husband and a wife, it is almost guaranteed that, sooner or later, a worst idea will gain its momentum among the group, in a subtle and sudden way. In fact, the matrimony works as long as the wife rules in such a way, any bad idea she may have, it would good anyway by definition.

• [? ATTENTION, this analogy is cultural biased therefore is politically unfair in some cultures. Paradoxically, it could be unfair for opposite reasons (biases) among different cultures. Fell free to get upset but suspend your judgement until having read up to the end of the "Why does brilliant leadership work?" subsection, thanks.]

Consensus like leadership makes feel people being part of something bigger. This feeling will drive them to collaborate and positively contributes. The only thing consensus model grants is that at a certain time in the future the sum of all contributes suddenly will sum up in a negative outcome, inexplicably.

The dirty secret that nobody would ever hear is that on the long run, the consensus will drive the group into homologation trap for which the past paradigms will be conservated and ferociously defended until it will too late to recognize they have become obsolete.

The Murphy's law

In those lucky cases that nobody manage to bring any such mesmerising crap in the scene, no any decision will be taken until too late. Thus, at that time any decision will be worse than nothing.

However, that time will be the most critical because if the worst evil idea suddendly would pop up in, it will match the best time to maximize its damage while everybody would not care about anymore.

On the behalf of the Murphy's law, it will happen and it would be a beatiful black swan. The rotten luck always found its way when everybody is sleeping or being busy in something else in such a way to gain as much advantage as possible by the surprise.

In any case, an immediate failure is not grated. It would be too easy. Nope, we should spit out all our blood before. Murphy's law grants that not before could happen and if it will happen sooner, it will have an even worse set of conseguences.

How this sh!t happen?

Because our brain is extremely optimised to save energy. Thus, it heavily uses any kind of shortcuts even when they are wrong outside the specific context in which they got in place. It is a machine specifically designed and optimised to recognise patterns. Thus, any one is not just inside it, will not be correctly categorised nor perceived at all, at the first glance. By mistakes, we all learn. By the last mistake, we all fall.

To push this lazy machine out of its saving energy state {surprise, novelty, unexpected} does the magic. Once activated by one or more of these triggers, our beautiful mind can learn something new and act on it.

The subtle worst idea is a black magic based on a uncommon combination of wrong shortcuts already shared among the group. The novelty of unexpected mix triggers the brains which immediately learn the new crap out of any context but strongly rooted on well established shortcuts. Moreover, such crap sticks and it will run deep in the time. By the time, it will spread around and it will become a new unmodifiable truth belonging to the group shared common sense.

Sometimes, it spreads out and arises a fairy tale or a legend.

Why failure does not immediately follow?

Because our brain operates mainly with shortcuts especially when we are sit and debating in a meeting. Instead, when we are dip into a real context, our brain tricks us. We think we are implementing the idea but in real, our hands made the right thing because our brain commands them outside our sphere of full consciousnesses and drives them coherently with the real-world context. So far, we need an example by now!

The consensus drives a group to agree approaching the old affectionate clients with a surprisingly crap formula: "Fuck you NAME, buy this!". Everyone agree with enthusiasm. Especially John who immediately drives to an old his client, Frank. John meets Frank: "Hi Frank, ? shaking friendly his hands ? how fucking beautiful day for buying this?".

What is it happened? Survival instinct protects John by the group's moronity.

On the long run that "fucking" idea will make such destructive difference because time by time, the John confidence in that bad idea will find its way in his brain despite anything.

John got back a positive outcome the first time despite that "fucking" idea. Unfortunately, such unrelated result had set an anchor for the wrong belief to stick in his mind. So far, he will be slowly but hopelessly driven to believe that such idea is the magic key. Nothing else more wrong that this. It may work once but at the second time starts to be too much. If not the second, the third. Longer it takes, worse it goes.

Gambling works out us in the same manner: won once, losing forever.

Why does brilliant leadership work?

It does not. Simply avoid that people are sitting on their bottoms pretending to take decisions using their sleeping brains. It keeps us entertained, attentive and awaken.

• Ted is in the room. He seems silent by now but in any moment he could speak out something unexpected that could put my opinion in the hot spot or kick it off.
• He shakes our brains, squeezes our minds and he makes a cocktail with the best of their juices.

On the other side, consensus drives people to lay down on a new coloured old coach, speaking of nothing, until the deadline is missed and any decision or action will make any difference and preemptively comforting everybody that it was alright because we all agreed about that. A leader should awake them and bring them outside their comfort zone to switch on that part of the brain which will make the magic happen.

A brilliant leader does this without perish by the hands of the savagely hungry team mates.

• [? ATTENTION, for those upset before and all others as well. Please, read again that paragraph substuting the words {husband, wife} with {team, boss} and then imagine any kind of unspeakable situation in which marriage may work or not. This one classic trick of the lateral thinking!]

When does consensus work well?

Consensus works well when we are going to do such interesting things adults do, when we get married, when we rise our children. It works in a couple, possibly in a threesome or something like that.

It works in any context in which something keeps us awaken and positively excited.

It does not work when the fear of a imminent big loss is in place. In case of fire the first one sure enough to know the best/near exit takes it and others follow. Nobody debates about consensus for escaping an imminent life threat. Those did, are resting in peace.

What is the best scenario?

• We did not find it, yet. Once we found, it would be too late.
• The flown water will not make the wheel turning anymore.

What is the worst scenario?

• A group driven by consensus, copycatting the ideas extracted from a brilliant mind kept outside the scene by the group itself.
• A team working for a goal but deviated in their intentions or in their golas or in the final results by a master of the puppets hidden behind the scene.
• Felony and moronity are an explosive mixture especially when fuelled by participant's good intentions and people's bona fide.

Conclusion

• We all are unique. We have a unique life experience. We have a unique career path.
• Copycats are just sparkles in a danging shadow's theatre. Avoid it, be yourself.
• You gotta a brain, use it. It is not for free but it worth the effort.

Index of all articles

• Project Management, Decision Making, Technology Innovation, Leadership & Creativity, Economia, Cultura, Società e Costume, Progetti, Idee e di divulgazione.

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(C) 2017, Roberto A. Foglietta, licensed under Creative Common Attribution, Non Commercial, Share Alike, International terms v.4.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).