CHAPTER 12

Breakthrough in How We See Ourselves

O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!

—Robert Burns

The uneducated . . . cannot be expected to be self-critical.1

—Socrates

Why Do We Need Leaders?

It has little to do with motivational style or which reporting structure can best gather say-so into the hands of stars and experts. Leadership supercharges operational performance because it is a special case of division of labor and specialization—the one that makes flow possible against the headwinds of complexity.

 

Of all the ways we could service demand, flow consumes the least treasure per unit output. Not-flow is an exceptionally draining way to operate.

Demand flow is hard, but the socioeconomic advantages are ...

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