In other words it’s easy to make a difference as a high performer in a low performance organization.
Again not detracting from this persons achievements, I just don’t think these most of these observations apply in high performIng organizations
At least if you're okay with being the only person with any ambition. Personally I have to flee from those environments.
If you don't have access to high performing institutions for whatever reason, this is how you can leverage a position in a low performing institution to achieve a lot of success.
And yet, the big takeaway for me is that to be a high performer it isn’t enough to A) know what needs to be done, or B) be able to do it well. The key is C) figuring out the incentive landscape.
His story of carving out his own job only to find he had no support from the board is what I’ve tried before. In my low performing organization, I thought I could be a high performer by knowing what needed to be done and doing it well. Everybody I directly worked with loved me and thought I was highly effective, but I never made any lasting change like this author. I didn’t understand the need to skip way up the levels until I was already burnt out.