1. THE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMNET
GROUP OF BOSTON
The Success Paradox:
“How job success can hinder long-term career development”
By: Prof. William E. Morrison Jr.
Consultant-Industrial Psychologist and Senior Lecture
Do you:
 Investigate most everything you do professionally very thoroughly?
 Seek a strong basis in facts for your decision-making?
 Have a rational explanation for every decision you make-- take time to think and
assess every avenue before a decision is made?
Are you:
 Generally very stable and reliable and predictable?
 Insistent on cooperative relationships with your co-workers?
Are you:
 Getting quality Interviews at 25-35 % above your current earnings?
I have met a host of professionals who say, “yes” to the first of these questions, but
don’tunderstand that the very things that are often their strengths, may also be their

2. weaknesses or obstacles to moving beyond their current career situation. So many of
the professionals who do extremely detailed work (this list often includes lawyers, IT
project managers, engineers) are, according to the Myers-Briggs personality profile,
often described as INTJ’s. That is to say, the very quality that makes them suited to
their very detailed work also makes it extremely difficult for this same population, to
get a handle on the bigger picture of their career.
What I have found over years of management development consulting, is that many
who would describe themselves as people who dot every “I” and cross every “t”, also
find that their thoroughness has painted them into a career corner. They are so busy
being excellent at their current job or professionthat they get bogged down. They
have little energy or ability to look beyond to their larger career goals. They find
themselves so tuned in to their current position, that they have become one-
dimensional professionally, and therefore, is it hard for them to “think outside the
box”. They become stuck in a rut.
Let me put these comments in context--I have lectured in Organizational Development
and Psychologyfor more than 20 years, and I had my own management consulting
company for 22 years. I have had a hundred employees at some points, and had some
great clients like GM, Ford, PPG, and ICI, etc. All of this is to say, I have been
watching this game for a long time.
What I am seeing again and again, in my current role at MDG are professionals who
are reaching out to us, to help them change the direction their career is going--they feel
stuck. Often, because of the success they have accomplished at their chosen
profession, the ante has been upped. Now, they feel pressed, becauseoutside their
already inflated responsibilities, they are being pressured with demands that they
“develop a bookof business” and generate revenue, in ways that are out side their
professional training.
Unfortunately, what compounds the difficulty of the situation for many is that they
have a “good job”, and they are “good at what they do.” This makes it hard for them
or their families to encourage the parallel thinking required investigating alternate
career paths or opportunities and focusing on their broad array of transferable skills.
Their career search has been nothing but a “fishing trip.”
This is exactly where MDG comes in. What is it that we can do?

3. The simple answer is this. I think one of the things that MDG does very well, is to
help this type of “precision-focus” professional with a multi-faceted, multi-
dimensional search. We can help these professionals pursue several avenues and
several paths simultaneously. We can help individuals multi-task and “think outside
the box” in a way they don’tfeel capable of doing it by themselves.
These are my observations. Having said all that, I am committed personally to getting
a positive mutual result, and to contributing to a better life style for these individuals.
For those who are willing to make their career search more than a “fishing trip”, we are
here to help.
Just a few extra side bar comments:
 For MDG to engage in your career search, one has to have this as a priority
activity.
 If you are truly interested in thinking out of the box and looking in an arena that
will expand your job responsibilities and compensation rate on the un-advertised
market, then you and I should have a chat on how I can help you achieve that
goal.
Prof. William Morrison Jr.
Management Development Group of Boston - President
3 Executive Park Drive
Bedford NH 03110
802.888.7989
bill.morrisonjr@outlook.com