I used to have a rule here at the firm to avoid the Icarus Trap. Sometimes our imaginations and ideas would get the better of us and we’d try too hard to get the impossible done. All in the pursuit of excellence, my team and I would put in the late nights, early mornings, tight travel schedules and exhaustive meetings.
Many times we’d win the pitch, score the hit, make our clients look like world-beaters and soak in the satisfaction of a job well-done on that return flight or Friday evening commute home.
Sometimes, though, the idea didn’t stick for whatever reason — no budget, no time, no backers. Worse again, someone else would have that same idea six months later and execute in not quite the same way as we’d conceptualized. That can be disheartening and it’s then I’d warn my brilliant team to scale back ideas to only what’s practical and do-able and sensible. Avoid the Icarus Trap.
I now realize I was wrong to harness one of (several) things that makes a team great. I should have said, “Soar! And I’ll catch you if you fall!”
