More than any other Intellect, our PDs are driven to cross the finish line. Because they think on the “How” dimension, they have the most talent for organizing, planning, and most importantly, finishing work. While all Intellects contribute to the quality of work accomplished, it is the PD who masters the detail. They do the heavy lifting especially relative to research, analysis, reporting, planning and execution. Is it any surprise that, having cleared a path to the goal line, and, having progressed work well down that path, that the PD community objects when the goal line is shifted even eleven degrees to the right or left of the original target? How many of us have experienced this resistance to change in mid-stream, a change that requires the jettisoning of major components of now ‘irrelevant’ work?
The perpetrators of this goal line shifting are most often the EQs or the Strategists. The EQ is in tune with the constantly shifting market forces and customer needs and may discern to change the goal line due to market reality. The Strategist may simply have come up with a better idea. The EQ knows the goal line must shift and immediately. If the PDs do not trust the EQs’ market intuition, and fail to make the necessary course correction, the company can miss major opportunities. On the other hand, the EQ must respect the PDs’ need to cross some finish lines.
Why do the PDs resist the change? This is simple. The PDs had all of the knowledge, methods and plans established and aligned with razor focus and great detail. The finish line was in sight, and PDs are driven to finish what they start. Now they are being asked to change the finish line, and the new path to finishing is not nearly as clear as the path to the original finish line. Much work is needed to get things realigned. Once the PDs feel that they will never get a chance to cross the finish line, they will stop trying. The lesson here is to let the PDs cross finish lines at least some of the time or your engine will freeze up.
