In one's company, two's a crowd

In the American version of "The Office", a TV mockumentary about the daily grind of work, Oscar Nunez, one of the show's characters, comes out with this gem:

"It doesn't take a genius to know that every organisation thrives when it has two leaders. Go ahead, name a country that doesn't have two presidents. A boat that sets sail without two captains. Where would Catholicism be without the popes?"

... Every organisation needs the odd trailblazer. But to be successful, as Henry Mintzberg, another management guru, has argued, it needs more people who are merely competent at what they do to keep it functioning. I fear that Fishbowl will find this out when they hit rocky times and their myriad "leaders" march off in different directions, only to turn around and find there is no one behind them.

Read full article: The Economist, April 25, 2012