The more and more I think about it, the more skeptical I get of leadership as a construct.  I think as a civilization we're missing something, really really big.  I know, audacious for relative nobody on the matter to say.  But, I'll probably convince anyone who is reading this blog (if not totally, at least an uncomfortably large amount) over the course of time - that we should stop focusing on leadership as a core emphasis of organization or at least radically rethink what leadership is and what its value is.  (Teaser: leadership is not nearly as interesting or useful as we thought it was - rather, it's a distraction).

I'm due to write about this on yammer for some colleagues, but I also want to play around with the idea here.  I imagine I'll pitch this to TEDxDetroit in the next year or some other venue, just to see if I'm not crazy.  And, to see what some actual smart people think about this.

Anyway, here's some messing around on what the structure of those remarks might look like:

We need a lot from organizations, that different than what exists today - [describe some fundamental assumptions about what organizations need to be and compare them with how they actually operate].

So, why does this happen?  I'd argue that making Leadership the holy grail has a lot to do with it. - [explain the leadership quandry].  [Also, concede that there could be other reasons, but give reason as to why to focus on this one].

So, you've outlined a big problem, but how do you suggest we run organization if not for leadership structures? -[ Ask the audience, to suspend reality for just a second. Then, explain the paradim shift to "gardening teams"].

Why not just improve the craft of leadership? - [Explain why that's silly and why a paradigm shift is necessary]

[Then, revisit the fundamental needs of organization and show the path that leadership goes down - it's a bad one].

[Admit you don't know have the technology of teaming at your disposal, but give the "all we need to do is scale it, and why can't we?" bit to the audience to give them hope that they won't have to fully suspend disbelief forever].

[explain the difference in the place for leadership and the place for gardening teams in the future - it's probably a shared world].

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Shoot, a lot of gaps here.  It'll be fun to fill in.  I've gotta make time for this, maybe this summer, after the GMAT.

PS - Unedited, it's late.