But later, it's my job to show managers how they helped to bring on their own demise-if they did. This requires skill. Asking indirectly allows the client to admit that, yes, they probably were partly to blame. One of my favorite tactics is do draw a bell-shaped curve on a piece of paper and then explain that things run in cycles. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Jobs do too.
They start out exciting and challenging and then gradually begin to plateau. At some point, they take a downward turn and deteriorate. I ask my clients to plot themselves on this curve. Very often they point to the far end of the downhill side. That tells them something.