Thanks RN.
My template for this type of thinking goes back to when I was in somewhat more structured businesses that required staff. Contrary to what many seem to believe I found that if you took the hiring process seriously -- after all trusting others with aspects of your business and reputation is no small matter -- most of your staff wants to do a good job and they are willing to work hard to get it done. The ones that never seemed to have a chance, in general, were just as hard working as the others but had one trait in common: They were unwilling to reach out for help when the got stuck. They seemed to believe that solving the problem or navigating around the roadblock had more value if they got that done through their own efforts as opposed to that it got done because others could give them a hand or show them a different prospective.
I found I could not make that type of staff member effective and I also found -- to my great annoyance -- that i was unable to weed them out in the interview process. I always had new staff members start on Monday and I always gave them a good sized project to do that I was dead certain they could not complete on their own. Those that didn't reach out for help by Thursday at one PM were fired by my general manager so I could be at lunch and avoid the discussion. They were always paid for the entire week and were gone when I returned from lunch.
Rank has its privledges and, since I did not like letting them go, I made sure to delegate that task 100% of the time. My botom line is you can't let yourself be trapped in your own mind or with yesterdays losing construct. Most breakthroughs in life come from looking at the wall/road block from a different prospective not from banging your head into it until either it gives or you become like a punch drunk fighter. I killed enough brain cells with scotch in my younger days and the few I have left I'm hell-bent on protecting. Although, given just the right set of circumstance ,I'm willing to sacrifice a few to a good bottle of Barolo.