A baby elephant is tied to a post with a thin rope. It pulls and pulls, but the rope holds. After a while, it stops trying.

Years later, the elephant is strong enough to break the rope. But it doesn’t try. It has learned to believe that it can’t.

Teams can learn the same lesson.

Consider this illustrative story. A senior leader at a fast-growing data and AI company noticed that one of his teams wasn’t delivering as expected. The people were skilled, and the work was interesting. So he spent a week sitting with them, quietly watching how they worked.

During the week, he noticed patterns that had likely been developing for months.

Continue reading “Is There a Rope Holding Your Team Back?”