Shane Parrish points to a recurrent problem managers face: they rely on “maps” of their organisations that can never really capture reality.
We are so reliant on abstraction that we frequently use an incorrect model simply because we feel any model is preferable to no model. (Reminding one of the drunk looking for his keys under the streetlight because “That’s where the light is!”). Having a map in hand can be falsely reassuring.
I run into this all the time in training: people want to be given models, frameworks and recipes for how to deal with complex challenges. But by attempting to follow these imperfect maps, we easily numb ourselves to the actual experiences that might really teach us something.
Hat tip: Tweet from Tim Kastelle