Catching A Ride To Go Places
There is a great idiom in Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson. Dmitri “Raven” Ravinoff told Y.T., “If you know how to catch a ride you can go places.” We talk a lot about having the right people in the right seats on the bus. Getting the right people on the bus was a concept developed in the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. We also need to think about catching the ride to go to the right places. Collins taught us that people should be on the metaphorical bus because of who else is on the bus, instead of where it is going. Then it’s much easier to change direction. Leaders need to start with “who” is on the bus, but let’s not forget that we and others are also, at times, looking to catch a ride.
If we want our organizations to be effective we need the right people and the right spots. There must be clarity about what the organization needs. Then, thinking about the right person in the right seat can begin. Also, we should only be looking to catch rides with organizations that have taken the time and been intentional about designing organizational structure and roles and responsibilities. So many times a person is hired only to find out they are not doing what they thought they were hired to do. This is not somewhere we want to catch a ride with. If we are catching a ride with someone already in an organization or moving to a new organization we need to make sure everyone there recognizes our unique contributions.
Byron's Babbles 
So true with so many of your points here.
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Maybe the first time I’ve seen Snow Crash and Good To Great in the same article. Well done.
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