belief

Why I hire people who don't work out....

Because I believe things about them.  I believe in what they CAN do, and see my needs they CAN fill, and then I'm off to the races.  I find myself reinterpreting the person's past deeds (or lack thereof) in light of what I hope they CAN do in the future.  

Hope springs eternal.  Problem is, the spring's sweet water is littered with stinky leaves and some pond scum.

The best antidotes provide only a modicum of (useful) relief.  What I need to do better is focus on what the person IS (current skills and traits) and HAS DONE (past accomplishments, training). 

I gotta get better...!

aloneness

It works.  Well. 

Great and wild idea: 
You don't have to lead alone.  Mayo uses the "dyad" approach--a physician paired with an administrator.  Physicians, left to their own leadership devices, will run the programs in such a way that they provide great care, and the place goes out of business.  The businessmen (administrators) will run it in a way that makes good money, and quality suffers. 

Sharing power is hardly new.  In republican Rome, the Senate elected two consuls, who led the government as co-equals.  Yes, there are times that approach breaks down (study your Roman political history, and find the original meaning and utility of a "dictator.")  But overall, it works more often than it fails.  

Nota bene: The study of history is the study of what worked and what didn't.  As such, it's really an operator's manual for the present.  Just sayin'.