Overreach

Cleverness and speed stand in for assessment. You are invested in being right rather than in being accurate.

What it looks like

You have the answer before the question is finished. You explain the situation to people who are in it. You make a confident call on a thin read and then defend the call instead of rereading the situation. When it works, you learn that speed works. When it fails, you find a reason it was someone else’s fault.

The flattering misread

Decisiveness. Intelligence. “Someone had to make a call.”

The tell

You were sure, and you had not checked. Being right last time made you more sure this time, not less.

What it protects

The fear of looking slow or uncertain. Overreach keeps you from ever having to say “I don’t know yet.”

Where it shows up

Scale, when the size of the thing makes you want to prove it is small. Volatility, when every new signal gets a confident response. Opposition, when winning the argument replaces understanding it.

The move back

Say what you don’t know yet, out loud, before you say what you think. Ask one more question than feels necessary. Treat being right as a reason to check harder, not a license to skip it.

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