Ability Trap – Ability is both an advantage and a trap
Everybody knows that; Power is also a trap, and people don’t know it. Eminea Ebera, one of the top 50 management thinkers in the world, has found through extensive research that if we get stuck doing what we’re good at, it takes away time for more important strategic thinking, and ultimately our abilities become a trap for our development.
Recommended by Dr. Fan Deng, the founder of Fan Deng Reading
The book introduces the core idea that the only way to think like a leader is to act like one first. New experiences and the achievements they bring about change established behaviors and thinking. Thus, the cycle of “external change causes internal change” is formed, which is the principle of “from the outside in”.
Used to this kind of books is of no interest to read, but the chance to start after reading this book, just one breath read through the whole book, inner touches a lot, and strongly want to recommend this book to others, so write this article, if you are interested, it is highly recommended to read the book, I hope you can learn as much as I do.
The ability to trap
We all like to do things that we are good at, because in those areas we have enough ability, have good advantages, can complete well, and obtain certain performance or performance, which can meet our needs to a certain extent, so that we are more willing to do things within our ability.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs — a good one
This creates a cycle in which we are good at something – more and more of it is for us to do – more and more of it is for us to do…… “Such a cycle can lead us to spend most of our time doing certain things that we are good at. It makes us too valuable at certain things, and it is easy to fall into the trap of ability.
When external changes occur or internal changes are sought, they will suddenly find themselves unable to adapt to the requirements of the new environment.
In her book, Eminea-Ibera introduces the pitfalls of managerial competence from a manager’s perspective, such as the story of Jeff, a brilliant salesman at a beverage manufacturer who used to manage the details himself. Jeff was such a good salesman that he was promoted to sales manager. He then served as regional director twice with good results. After his third assignment to Indonesia, he ran into developmental difficulties. In the third assignment, Jeff still did what he had done before (doing what he was good at). Although he made no mistakes, his boss did not see that he had stronger leadership skills, because the company needed new digital technology in the local market to fulfill its new development (the external environment changed). And outgoing personality, good at interpersonal and Jeff for digital technology without reserve, and hope that in the original sales strategy development (has been sticking to do what he is good at), because he is good at sales, more and more willing to do sales work, this can bring happiness and confidence for him, finally leads to Jeff in the loop into a trap of ability, Lost the trust of the boss, stunted development.
There are competency traps for both managers and developers as programmers. The difference is that managers fall into the management skills trap they are good at, and developers fall into the development skills trap they are good at.
change
The book also offers a way to change the power trap.
- Change your mind starts with action
The traditional concept is that “change comes from the inside out”. Through years of management research, the author discovered and proposed the principle of “from the outside in” — external change leads to internal change, such as the change of managers: they first act like leaders, and then they can think like leaders, thus forming a cycle.
The conventional wisdom is that to change we need to look “inside” ourselves, which leads to a change in our thinking, and then change our actions with that new thought. However, there is a problem that our past behavior forms our cognition. When our external behavior does not change, the constant external environment will limit our thoughts to our past cognition, which leads to our thoughts cannot be changed, and ultimately our behavior cannot be changed either.
“From the outside in” is to break the shackles of the past cognition on the mind, change behavior to bring some previously unknown experiences and experiences, so as to have the opportunity to break the shackles on the mind, trigger the change of thinking and cognition, and then adjust our behavior, thus forming a virtuous cycle.
- How to change
For how to change the book also gives a method, can be roughly divided into three steps:
- Think about the type of work you’re doing;
- Taking on a new role or activity that brings you in touch with people who may have a different view of the world than you do;
- Re-examine yourself;
It boils down to redefining your work, your network, and yourself.
By redefining your job, help yourself find what you’re good at in your job and avoid allocating all your time to what you’re good at, leaving no time for other important things. By adding “new role” and then subtracting “old job” at work, you can introduce new behavioral changes from the outside, creating opportunities for a mental shift.
A new role or activity can expose us to more people who have a different worldview, giving us the opportunity to build our own networks and help us think outside the box and develop a connected mind.
When our external behaviors and relationships have changed, when we re-examine ourselves, it is easier to change the thoughts formed by our past cognition, thus completing the transformation “from outside to inside”.
conclusion
This is what I want to share with you after reading The Power Trap. Please correct any mistakes.
There are many other things in the book, such as the “authenticity” trap, the amazing transformation journey, how to do it, and so on.
If you are interested, you can read the original book.
Attached is a douban reading link, you can go to learn more about the comments of book friends
The ability to trap