Could the Ipad have really been delivered without him? |
Perhaps you have an obsessive interest in a particular area or you may be a bit socially awkward or suffer a bit from dyslexia. Is that a problem for your career progression? Not necessarily according to the Economist -- indeed it can be a positive advantage to be a bit geekish and not just a company man or woman.
Julie Login from Cass business School surveyed a group of entrepreneurs and found that 35% of them were dyslexic as opposed to 10% of the population and 1% of professional managers. Some famous dyslexics have included Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Jamie Oliver and John Chambers of Cisco.
These managers gravitate towards jobs where few if any formal professional qualifications are required and there is a high degree of delegation to talented co-workers. They are especially good at delegating to talented individuals and letting them get on with things under the umbrella of broader business deliverables. Meddlers and micro managers they are definitely not. How refreshing that is because whatever we may think, one person cannot do everything but one person can ensure that everything which is required gets done by other talented people.
ADD (Attention Deficit disorder) is another affliction apparently common in entrepreneurs. Although ADD sufferers get bored easily, procrastinate and find it difficult to focus; these people are good at taking risks, thinking outside the box and are highly creative. There is still a place for the ordinary organisational person within an entity who is well rounded, polite and hard working, it is just that there is perhaps a more important need for a creative soul and a spark. No serious organisation can prosper and be creative without these semi-dysfunctional individuals playing a key role.
Apparently in 1956, William Whyte, argued in his best seller "The Organisation Man"that companies were so in love with well rounded executives that they fought a battle against genius. So next time your colleagues come to you with some ideas which appear to be off the wall, please ask yourself is it their unorthodoxy or your lack of vision and understanding that is not moving your entity forward in the realms of business progress?
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