Grappling Hook Head
20th April 2011
Freeberg creates a new word.
One who begins with the end in mind, such that his vision of the end result is strong, steely and unshakable, like a metal hook sunk deep into a granite wall; while any the variables involved in getting there are outside of his concern. These people can be hazardous to the success of a project if they know barely enough about the details to monopolize the political power. The tendency is for them to envision the completion of some “favorite” minor task, as the end delivery product, so their “grappling hook” vision concerns the completion of some relatively minor task rather than the completion of the overall project itself. Their knowledge is deep but narrow.
An excellent coinage, but awkward. I suggest ‘hook-head’ as being more pithy and so more likely to achieve widespread adoption.
April 20th, 2011 at 12:28
Well, since “hooker” was already taken…..
Freeberg makes a very good point, but “…a metal hook sunk deep into a granite wall..” is an odd imagery for me.
There are people who are very driven to make some task or project happen, and sometimes amazing things happen around them. There are other people who visualize themselves as this type of person and try to make things happen without a clue about what they are doing (or what anyone around them is doing). I suspect many of this second type of people work for Microsoft.