Making Use of Difficulty By Dr. Mark L. Vincent

Difficulty in a Leader’s Third Turn

Leaders in their Third Turn experience their share of difficulties—enough to know that difficulty is always present. Future value, succession, and legacy are created while traveling a long and challenging road, one a long-term leader cannot travel alone.

This is the reason for Maestro-level Leaders. CLA is recruiting its next Maestro-level cohort so that Founders, long-time CEOs, and Executive Directors do not travel the succession road alone. Click here to learn more.

Read on for more on managing difficulty….

The Challenge in Difficutly

In 2013, the Economist’s sister publication, 1843, published a critical essay from Ian Leslie on the uses of difficulty. The essence of the argument comes from brain science and observation of human behaviors. Simply put, humans need challenges.

Our brains come alive because of challenges. We get creative and innovate when obstacles and limitations hinder our progress. Without them, we become lazy and complacent. Mr. Leslie provides several examples of people and organizations that did their best work when faced with difficulty, including the Beatles’ recording of Abbey Road.

Hard Lessons Learned

Particularly noteworthy is that we learn best and retain information and skills the longest when they are difficult to attain. Bite-sized, simple lessons might be quickly understood, but they are not maintained and become unavailable for recall and reflection when they are needed down the road. It is the difference between “I’d recognize it if I saw it“ and “I know this.”

Think about moments of grand celebration in your life. You likely did not celebrate them because they came quickly but because you worked to accomplish them. Anything accomplished without effort, such as winning a drawing or receiving an inheritance, might be clung to but not cherished as something achieved through effort.

The Good in Disruption

Put this in an organizational context, and a parallel is easily observed. Disruptive and leap-frogging technology, innovations in providing service, and entrepreneurial dreams tend to succeed because difficulty was present. Remove difficulty: Vision is not sharpened, and adjustments are not made. We need to understand that there is no patented shortcut through the slog of figuring it out. Difficulty is what leads to new solutions, organizational advances, and the development of managerial character.

We Have More Than Enough

We need not add to the difficulty, however. Life is complicated enough with its natural disasters, pandemics, famine, racism, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Erecting obstacles that block and kill initiative, and we kill the potential of fulfilling a dream. Remove barriers that build problem-solving skills, or people will lose initiative.

So, we are left with the discernment work of noticing the practical uses of difficulties that build muscle and raise the game instead of hindering it. We leave those obstacles in place, cheering everyone through to record times on their obstacle course.

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ᐧDr. Mark L. Vincent is the Founder of Design Group International and the Society for Process Consulting. He hosts the Third Turn Podcast and facilitates Maestro-level leaders. Discover the Maestro-level cohort that is waiting for you! Click the banner below to learn more!