An old parable will serve to introduce the insight [great
managers] shared.
There once lived a scorpion and a frog.
The scorpion wanted to cross the pond, but, being a scorpion, he
couldn't swim. So he scuttled up to the frog and asked:
"Please, Mr. Frog, can you carry me across the pond on your
back?"
"I would," replied the frog, "But, under the circumstances, I
must refuse. You might sting me as I swim across."
"But, why would I do that?" asked the scorpion, "It is not in my
interests to sting you, because you will die and then I will
drown."
Although the frog knew how lethal scorpions were, the logic
proved quite persuasive. Perhaps, felt the frog, in this one
instance the scorpion would keep his tail in check. And so the frog
agreed. The scorpion climbed onto his back, and together they set
off across the pond. Just as they reached the middle of the pond,
the scorpion twitched his tail and stung the frog. Mortally
wounded, the frog cried out:
"Why did you sting me? It is not in your interests to sting me,
because now I will die and you will drown."
"I know," replied the scorpion, as he sank into the pond. "But I
am a scorpion. I have to sting you. It's in my nature."
Conventional Wisdom encourages you to think like the frog.
People's natures do change, it whispers. Anyone can be anything
they want to be if they just try hard enough. Indeed, as a manager,
it is your duty to direct those changes. Devise rules and policies
to control your employees' unruly inclinations. Teach them skills
and competencies to fill in the traits they lack. All of your best
efforts as a manager should focus on either muzzling or correcting
what nature saw fit to provide.
Great managers reject this out of hand. They remember what the
frog forgot: that each individual, like the scorpion, is true to
his unique nature. They recognize that each person is motivated
differently, that each person has his own way of thinking, and his
own style of relating to others. They know that there is a limit to
how much remolding they can do to someone. But they don't bemoan
these differences and try to grind them down. Instead, they
capitalize on them. They try to help each person become more and
more of who he already is.
Simply put, this is the one insight we heard echoed by tens of
thousands of great managers:
People don't change that much.
Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out.
Try to draw out what was left in.
That is hard enough.
This insight is the source of their wisdom. It explains
everything they do with and for their people. It is the foundation
for their success as managers.
This insight is revolutionary. It explains why great managers do
not believe that everyone has unlimited potential; why they do not
help people fix their weaknesses; why they insist on breaking the
"Golden Rule" with every single employee; and why they play
favorites. It explains why great managers break all the rules of
Conventional Wisdom.
Simple though it may sound, this is a complex and subtle
insight. Applied without sophistication, you can quickly find
yourself suggesting that managers should ignore people's weaknesses
and that all training is a complete waste of time. Neither is true.
Like all revolutionary messages, their insight requires
explanation: How do great managers apply it? What does it ask of
employees? What does it mean for companies?