Yesterday I introduced “Clarke’s Law”:
Most employees get stuck in jobs that don’t use their full potential.
I want to clarify something.
Clarke’s law isn’t laying blame.
I’m not saying that the big guys are out there suppressing the little guys, limiting them, holding them back.
That might sometimes be true, but there are loads of reasons people get stuck in shells that are too small for them.
Here’s a surprising example.
For the last 4 years, I’ve helped one of my clients - who I will anonymise and call “Brie”, for reasons that will become clearer over time (hint: look at this post's title and picture) - grow her team from roughly 30 people to over 300.
From 30 - 300!
Her team’s product took off, like a rocket, because of the amazing work they’d done long before I’d ever heard of them.
I’ve helped Brie (and her team) repeatedly “debottleneck” themselves so they could grow and grow and grow and capitalise on their success.
Now here are the things:
- Brie was a fantastic leader of 30 people, and,
- Brie is now a fantastic leader of over 300.
Same person … but, in a way, two different people.
With the wisdom of hindsight, Brie of 4 years ago clearly wasn’t using her full potential.
But back then she was already considered a superstar, so it looked like she was using her full potential.
Clarke’s Law applied, but no one would have thought so.
Including Brie.
So ... she could have remained happily trapped in her shell ... if it weren't for the "inciting incident" ...
... which I will come back to next week.
Take care, hit reply, enjoy your weekend!
Clarke