Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within

6

Breaking the Logic of Task Pursuit

In pursuing a task, we naturally follow our existing paradigms, scripts, or frameworks. These maps are the key to our past success. The problem is that as we experience success, we change, and so does the world. A map we have used in the past might be of limited value in new territory. In a new situation, if we cling to our old map, we might become deeply frustrated. At such times, we often become trapped in the logic of task pursuit.

The logic of task pursuit is best illustrated by a management parable that has been around for several decades. A hermit, who lived far out in a forest, would cut enough wood each summer to heat his cabin through the winter. One fall day, he heard on his shortwave radio that ...