... the research into high performance in any profession or endeavor reveals that excellence is idiosyncratic. The well-rounded high performer is a creature of theory world. In the real world each high performer is unique and distinct, and excels precisely because that person has understood his or her uniqueness and cultivated it intelligently.

Interestingly, network analysis can reveal significant gaps between who the official leaders are and who is informally exercising leadership in the organization. For instance, research has shown that there is little overlap between individuals who are acting as the main agents of innovation—by generating ideas and proactively translating creative initiatives into actual innovations—and those with a formal innovation leadership role.

In study after study, high workplace stress has been shown to inhibit creativity, whereas “when people were feeling more positive, they were more likely to be creative,” says Teresa Amabile, Harvard Business School professor and author of The Progress Principle.

This finding makes perfect sense. Creative work requires that your mind feel a level of freedom. If part of what you focus on is whether or not your performance will get you that big check, you are not in that open cognitive space where the best ideas and most innovative possibilities reside. You do worse.

The dilemma is that when the challenges facing an organization are not about repeatable execution, but about innovation or responding to complexity, the idea of breaking things down into well-understood parts is not only unhelpful, it can also be a dangerous trap.