Peter Drucker warns of what he terms “widow makers”; positions that broke two qualified people in a row. He explains that the problem is therefore not in the position holders, but in the design or current circumstances inherent in the position itself. The specific reason(s) may be anything; what matters is that the position or assignment in its current design is haunted with failure.

Drucker borrows the term ”Widow Makers” from what sailors call a ship where fatal accidents happen more than elsewhere without a visible reason. The solution to this widow-maker used to be exactly what he proposes: the owners of the ship dismantled it and used the parts in other ships.

Lesson Learned:

Don’t fight invisible ghosts; for one thing, it’s exhausting; for another, even if you win, you seem to have overcome nothing!

Action Points:

• When recruiting, redesign any ”haunted assignment” you identify in your company or department. In light of experience and preferably after interviews with the past position holders and help from a fresh eye, reconsider the position and as needed add/reduce its responsibilities, or cancel it and redistribute its responsibilities on available workforce.

• When recruited, always investigate the assignment and never accept a haunted assignment. Either negotiate a redesign for it based on your own learnings (companies never tell you the truth about such assignments, and they likely don’t know the real reasons anyway), or flee it like the plague!