Three errors managers make when striving for improvement

Humans will always try to find the mechanism that lets them change their worlds – or escape the ones they’re trapped in.

It appears to be part of our nature, maybe even our biology, to look for the way out, the exit, the clearing, the light. We move toward whatever we believe will unlock, upgrade or improve things. We don’t just want to escape – we want the trapdoor to open upward.

Many systems trap us in absurd or self-defeating loops. Superadaptable people don’t force their way out – they diagnose the underlying mechanisms. They find the catch, study it and release themselves. Escape becomes possible not through force, but precision.

But those efforts can go wrong. And when they do, they go wrong in three reliably predictable ways. You’ve seen these before, but now they return – in the context of unlatching the catch.

What fails when you’re trying to find a way to somewhere better? What misfires when you reach for the mechanism?

HYPO is about when things go wrong because you do too little, too slowly, or too late to understand the mechanism that matters. You’ve noticed something – an opportunity or a threat – and you’ve formed an initial interpretation. But you stop short of going deeper. You don’t test the mechanism beneath it, or the one beneath that. You delay. You hope it’ll resolve. Or you hold your model just long enough to miss the moment.

A manager sees signs of burnout but waits until their best people quit. A partner senses emotional distance but puts off the conversation – until the resentment is harder to repair. You hit a plateau in training, but keep running the same loop, hoping it’ll work again.

Do I really understand what’s causing this output? What mechanism would make it better – before it gets worse?

HYPER causes problems when you move too fast, assume too much, or act too soon with what you think you know about the mechanism that matters. A student is failing despite trying hard. A teacher or parent leaps to more homework, more pressure – without realising the blocker is dyslexia, comprehension or depression. The true mechanism goes untouched. A competitive gamer keeps losing and doubles down on repetition instead of reworking their strategy.