Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Grappling Hook Head
One who begins with the end in mind, such that his vision of the end result is strong, steely and unshakable, like a metal hook sunk deep into a granite wall; while any the variables involved in getting there are outside of his concern. These people can be hazardous to the success of a project if they know barely enough about the details to monopolize the political power. The tendency is for them to envision the completion of some “favorite” minor task, as the end delivery product, so their “grappling hook” vision concerns the completion of some relatively minor task rather than the completion of the overall project itself. Their knowledge is deep but narrow.
The thinking of a grappling-hook-head, and the impracticality of it, can be summed up in a single statement: “In the course of running this touchdown, when I reach the twenty-yard line my right foot is going to be on this spot.”
In technological pursuits, the grappling-hook-head becomes quickly enamored of the use of a particular tool. A purebred bureaucrat is notorious for inculcating a “Not Invented Here” environment. The grappling-hook-head fosters an environment of “Nothing Invented Here Except This One Thing.”
In their exuberance about all the details involved in achieving one particular task, and from the frequent regurgitation of well-thought-out implementation considerations involved in that one task, the grappling-hook-head very often ends up taking over much more complex and involved projects that contain many elements unfamiliar to them. This is often not a result of their own instigation, but rather of the perception that the individual has achieved a “perfect blend” of political mastery and technological know-how. This is a disaster, because when the grappling-hook-head encounters something unfamiliar, his favorite response is to double down and re-immerse himself in the workings of his favorite tool, and how it will bring about the optimal results in his favorite miniscule task. The project then proceeds without any top-level design existing anywhere, on paper or in somebody’s head, nowhere at all — noodling out how things are going to get done stem to stern. Middle management has no incentive to put one together, and senior management doesn’t know enough to force them to.
The one situation for which a grappling-hook-head is least prepared, is the one in which the favorite-miniscule-task is successfully realized by some alternative means. Once the grappling-hook-head ensconces himself into a position of political or organizational power, a perfect storm ensues when such an alternative emerges, especially when new evidence arrives suggesting the favorite-tool brings the inferior results, and the alternative method brings better ones.
The resources of the project are then spent on some heated duel between these two methods, only one of which may be implemented to achieve this relatively meaningless task. In this situation, there isn’t too much else that rises to the grappling-hook-head’s attention, and delegation of responsibility is very low. To the extent it exists at all, it is in a state of decline.
If the favorite tool is in fact discovered to bring inferior results, a great tragedy arises: the grappling-hook-head sets out trying to be an Ayn Rand hero, and metastasizes into the perfect Ayn Rand villain. He uses his “phantom” but superficial knowledge of technological workings, charisma, charm, force, “strong personality,” et al, to take over the project assuming he hasn’t taken it over already, and forces all things to be done his way. The results that arrive afterward are substandard, or maybe even disastrous. His solution to this is to insist, in an even more shrill tone, and with even more zeal than last time, that more things be done his way. (After all, there’s only one explanation to be considered about why the problem wasn’t solved by now; somebody must have done something wrong.) Thus, the crisis that developed from their last big screw-up, provides the urgency which is channeled into the impetus for their next incremental seizure of power. And so a vicious cycle develops.
I’m drawing on more personal observations than I can count as I write this up. So if you’re reading this, and you and I worked on something together, rest assured this isn’t about you. If you really think it is, I can guarantee it isn’t just about you. It’s about, oh…five, six, seven or so experiences I’ve had over the years, that I can think of right off the bat. I have to try pretty hard, myself, not to become like this. It’s part of being human. And I have to be humble; I like to think that by simply paying attention to this, I’m successful all the time, but of course life doesn’t work that way.
You really don’t need to wait too long to see this happen, because humans aren’t wired to receive that most unpalatable of thoughts: “My wonderful idea has been given a fair try here, and it just isn’t good.” Cutting our losses doesn’t come easy for us. We can learn how, but we just aren’t wired for it.
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Like a harpoon – in cement? Whales are too fluid and have movement. Reminds me a lot of Marxist-Leninist theory. Stuck in the 19th Century.
- DirtCrashr | 04/20/2011 @ 08:53You could have just said, “Those who love using hammers refuse to admit any problem could be something other than a nail.”
- Stephen J. | 04/20/2011 @ 16:34We-ell, I’m all for abbreviating when it doesn’t leave anything out. And I’ll admit that doesn’t leave out much.
But the “hammer” people are people who’ve successfully used hammers before. The target of my critique, here, is the guy who gets some wet dream about something that hasn’t been done before. Some product he read about in the literature, or something he almost managed to get built in a previous job maybe…liberal politicians and socialism. In cases like this, it is the allure of the unknown that drives them. If they knew how it turned out, whether that metric was flattering or not, they wouldn’t be so enthused.
Whereas, your hammer guy is just seeking a comfort zone. That can be a flaw as well, but it’s horse of a different color.
- mkfreeberg | 04/20/2011 @ 16:58