Sun Tzu was not the first to teach that to operate successfully anywhere, one needs to know and understand (among other things) the terrain type on which one operates, before you even attempt to advance. While a smooth and shiny new Ferrari with a full tank would probably be the smarter choice for speed on a race track, chances are a heavily used half-tank squeaky army car would move you much further, and faster, on sandy terrain.

Lesson Learned: Before you even think of making any move to advance in the office, you need to understand the terrain type: the office! Understanding that particular office you work in is important, but a general understanding of offices as a terrain type would make that even easier.

Action Point: Check out Dilbert regularly; it will show you things more clearly and help you take things more easily.

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!