Encyclopedia of Leadership

development paths of all positions in the company, without being specific to any one disci-

pline or profession. Here’s the catch: It is impossible to maximize all three dimensions (gener-

al, accurate, simple) when designing the process. Trade-offs are inevitable. For example, as

accuracy improves, the process becomes less and less simple (i.e., the binder of detailed infor-

mation begins to pile up).

The catch to the General-Accurate-Simple (GAS) model is that you can have only two of

the three! If you design a process that is General and Simple, some may challenge its

Accuracy by saying, “You need to be more specific for my department by adding....” This

leads to elaborating on the process to make it more Accurate. If you make the process

Accurate and Simple for one department, it will be less General for other departments. Thus,

leaders must inevitably make trade-offs and consider the most useful balance between these

three dimensions when designing a process.

In case you think that only leadership models are subject to the GAS model, consider one

of the most powerful formulas in physics, Newton’s second law: F = ma. It only works well

when the velocity of the object is far from the speed of light. As velocity approaches the speed

of light, you need to use Einstein’s insights on relativity—no longer simple, but more accurate.

HOW TO USE THIS LEADERSHIP TOOL

“I think [many leadership models] are uninformative and pedestrian partly because people have tried to make

them general and accurate and simple. In trying to accommodate all three of these aims, none have been real-

ized vigorously; the result has been bland assertions.”

—Karl Weick, THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING

Think of a leadership process that you will be designing or redesigning in the near future (e.g.,

performance management, strategic planning, goal setting, accountability, career develop-

ment, compensation, and so on). Assess this process in terms of the GAS model. What trade-

offs are needed so that the process is useful and usable in your organization?

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Name of leadership process: ___

34 SECTION 1 FOUNDATIONALCONCEPTS

Level of Generality

needed and why

Level of Accuracy

needed and why