Getting out of your own way is to recognise the doubts you have and do it anyway. But that doesn’t happen as often as we would like.
The mechanism of choice when choosing a new student council, a coach for the village team, or just about any other elected position is based on popularity. And that means that we don’t get who we need for the job at hand we get the most popular. The prize is not the chance to do the work but the chance to elevate status.
What would change if the coach of the local football team was chosen via a lottery?
Choosing to wing it or the secret sauce approach would no longer be an option. Coaching mentorship and peer group support would support the coach, driven by the change they create not the qualification they hold. And of course, the players move from passive to active, since they carry the culture through the age groups.
When we hold status we fear losing it. The more qualification you have the more entitled you feel. Perhaps it’s time to create a system where the only currency is the change we create.
Are you willing to change? If not perhaps you are in the way.
Thank you to Malcolm Gladwell for bringing my attention to the idea
https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/revisionist-history/the-powerball-revolution