This week I visited a company that employs about 2,000 people. As I looked at the organization charts I wondered what they all did. I was there was to advise on their business process and for that it seemed I had a daunting task to understand their work.
A management course some years ago gave some clues on alternative ways of thinking about approaches . The basis was a confronting set of ideas that makes a lot of sense. It went something like this.
Most people know what they know and try to improve on that. Useful achieve mastery in a single domain.
Others may also find out about what others know to advance. Useful but equally limiting.
Smarter people try to know what they don’t know to become mentors to others who don’t.
Intelligent people know they don’t know what they don’t know and trust to others who do. They are usually leaders.
To do the job I had some choices: Be an expert, a mentor or a leader. The conundrum as always when given such choses is one would choose that will ne the most effective. Any suggestions?
