The illusion of control: the curse of Knowledge.

Lehman brothers hired the best trained brains in the industry, best MBA, CFA and analyst. Arguably the best intellect at investment banks, form the spine of the global financial system yet the global meltdown was a manmade disaster. In an article The Economist t said that any outsider could have seen the rot in the financial system of America but not the bosses of the financial firms. Think of it, the best brains, in the nation which taught others to make money out of money…actually could not see this happen.

Why could not they see? How did they Errr..?

Can we call It the curse of too much knowledge? Or was it the illusion of control? Or is one the effect of the cause? This is not about the global financial crises. It about box of knowledge.

Let pick a story from the wisdom of kung fu-Panda crux of animated movie. Sagely master Oogway the tortoise selects a fat panda, devoid of any Kungfu skills as the ultimate savior from notorious tiger tai lung .Master Shibu the Guru of kung fu cannot believe that a fat lazy perpetually hungry panda Po could be better than his other legendary disciples who had practiced hard for years. His disciples were better equipped to beat the Challenger Tai Lung and panda could never learn the art. Master Oogway remained sagely unperturbed- he gave Shibu some kungfu wisdom .. to bring harmony in his eyes, to see beyond his curse of knowledge, shed his illusion of control. Only then did shibu, inspired by the faith of the master believed in the Panda. The Panda not only learned Kung fu..but had some advantages which shibu would not imagine…….the panda proved the faith in him right.
Why did the panda succeed?
Did panda have too much systematic knowledge, conventional wisdom?..did he have a illusion of control..he was just what he was, himself, doing the basics right with courage…devoid of too much knowledge of the system not enclosed in a box. Unfortunately the global financial system had no celestial intervention or the wisdom of Sagely kungfu guru Oogway.

One can merely speculate, whatever it is worth .Innovation and varied perspectives aren’t formed due to a system, they are spontaneous and arise when we leave enough slack & diversity in the organization. Unfortunately we believe that only one X set of inputs in a system can create Y. We narrowly define the inputs. Take a straight jacket approach. Get stuck…exactly as the financial system. Knowledge is power, yet…. it is as much a curse, it imprisons you inside the very body of knowledge. It encloses you in a box, curses you not to see beyond it. It can be seen, as a improvised form of the bounded rationality concept of economics. Rare are people who break this BOX.

Human beings want to control, they wish they could measure everything and try to analyze and recreate it. Man’s achievement…its monuments, his scientific advancements exist because of this instinct. Over indulgence in this knowledge creates exactly what one can call the curse of knowledge.

Lets look at our own organization, inside the organizational process and systems- how many are willing to have a fresh viewpoint from a fresh manager? Does not our organization use, only going through their own grind as a pre-requisite to have an opinion. Is there any motivation or understanding to innovate, to change, to look at things differently? Is it not a curse of knowledge? The intertie of status quo-A fresh new look by a fresh manager from a different industry may bring in the unimagined spice and innovation in your products or services. Why? May be this new blood is not under pressure of encroached knowledge of your industry or organizations. Do leaders need this new blood with unbiased perspective, different kind of knowledge. yes they do… why than would you find young line staff coaching Leaders at this renowned company?
Reverse mentoring at Nokia