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As I was idly thumbing through the latest copy of The Economist, I wondered why there is so much pain and suffering in the world. The Buddha has provided some reasons, but I was interested in a more practical answer.

There is no dearth of knowledge, talent, and resources in this world. Unless a problem has too much unknown about it (cure for cancer, travel to distant planets, and <insert your favorite bugbear here>), it can be solved handily with the capabilities we have today.

Then what is the problem? I was reminded of Pogo’s words, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” The human factor makes problems hard to define, hard to accept, hard to communicate, unpredictable, and just plan difficult. No amount of studying, learning, frameworks, tools, and techniques will work unless this fact is understood, and dealt with.

So when you come to work, be in the moment, go with the flow, commit yourself, and don’t let success or failure be your concern. In short, demonstrate leadership behaviors.