Supermen and Dragon Slayers
Last week Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers scored 61 points in a game. It was the most points ever scored in Madison Square Gardens against the Knicks. Imagine that accomplishment. The greatest players ever to play basketball have played there, and Kobe set the record. Everyone was really impressed and his accomplishment made headlines. He played like Superman.
Superman always breaks through the wall, captures the bad guy, and gets all the press. But Superman doesn’t clean up the mess afterwards or help the police get better. How many rebounds did Kobe get? Zero. How many assists? Three.
I had a Software Development Manager at a recent client who was bragging about the super human efforts he used to move updates into production. He was up all night and was the only one who could do it. Without him the business would grind to a halt. He reminded me of a boss I had as a contractor at IBM in the mid 1980’s. “Never reward the dragon slayer when he created the dragon.”
It is popular to cheer on the supermen and the dragon slayers. The people that feel they do the most and carry the biggest burden. But I am always suspect of the Supermen and Dragon Slayer’s. Invariably, they are doing more harm to the organization and the project then good. I have always try to move the Supermen and Dragon Slayer’s out of their positions of unique value. Some thrive and learn to help the team, some decide to work where their “talent” is appreciated.
Later in the same week as Kobe’s 61 point game, Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers scored 52 in MSG. He also had 9 rebounds and 11 assists. Lebron did a lot of the tough work and made his teammates better.
Do you work with Supermen and Dragon Slayers? Do they add more value then cost to the projects and organizations where they work? For me, I like Lebron’s game a whole lot more.
Wow! This strikes a nerve or two. I’ll take Lebron any day.