The first week under Leo's management was brutally effective. The team's output, measured in raw data processed and reports generated, skyrocketed. But the atmosphere in the office was thick with a silent, grinding tension. It was the sound of three mismatched gears being forced to turn at the speed of a supercomputer.
Leo operated with a flawless, cold logic that left no room for human error, or human nature. He saw his team not as people, but as processors with fluctuating efficiency ratings.
[Ben Carter: Processing Speed - Sub-optimal. Accuracy - High. Requires frequent maintenance.]
[Anna Chen: Processing Speed - High. Error Rate - Unacceptable due to emotional variable (resentment).]
[Kevin Cho: Processing Speed - Average. Error Rate - Low due to fear-based diligence. Innovation - Null.]
He managed them through a series of automated calendar alerts, direct task assignments via email, and a shared spreadsheet that tracked every single key performance indicator in real-time. It was a perfect system, and it was failing.
The breaking point came with "Project Chimera," a high-priority request from Marcus Graves himself. It required a complex fusion of historical data (Ben's specialty), competitive analysis (Anna's strength), and future-casting based on micro-trends (a task requiring meticulousness, assigned to Kevin). The deadline was Friday.
Leo delegated the components with his usual precision. But as he watched them work, his own internal analytics screamed at him. He could see the flaws in their processes before they even made them. He watched Ben use an outdated cross-referencing method that was 15% slower than necessary. He saw Anna's analysis of a rival company, colored by her frustration, miss a subtle opportunity. He saw Kevin, so terrified of making a mistake, producing work that was technically correct but utterly devoid of the creative insight needed for a project of this level.
On Thursday evening, they submitted their components to him. They were adequate. They were what any normal manager would expect.
But to Leo, they were disasters.
He stayed late that night, the city lights twinkling below his corner office. "Inefficient," he muttered, pulling up Ben's work. In thirty minutes, he re-did two days of Ben's labor. He then turned to Anna's analysis, his fingers a blur as he tore it apart and rebuilt it, sharpening its insights into lethal points. Finally, he took Kevin's sterile data and infused it with a layer of predictive analysis so sophisticated it bordered on prophetic.
At 3:17 a.m., he merged the three perfected components and submitted the final Project Chimera report to Marcus Graves, a full day ahead of schedule. From the outside, it was a managerial triumph.
He leaned back in his chair, a sense of grim satisfaction washing over him. The problem was solved. The machine was working.
But his phone screen lit up, and the message from the System was not one of praise. It was a declaration of failure.
[Quest Failed: The Art of Delegation] [Reason for Failure: Direct intervention. The final submitted report contained 92% of your own direct labor and 8% of your team's. This is not delegation; it is a deception.]
A second notification immediately followed, its text a damning red.
[PENALTY APPLIED] [Managerial Efficiency Score: -200 Points.] [Status Effect Acquired: The Bottleneck] [Description: You have become the limiting factor for your team's growth. By refusing to trust their process, you have guaranteed their long-term stagnation. Your current managerial method is unsustainable and will lead to team atrophy, burnout, and eventual collapse.]
Leo stared at the screen, a flicker of genuine shock piercing through his Calm Mind. He had achieved a perfect result, ahead of schedule, and the System was penalizing him for it. It was a logical contradiction.
Then, a final notification appeared, providing not a solution, but a new tool.
[Failure is a data point. Analysis of your critical managerial error has unlocked a new operational paradigm.] [New Skill Unlocked: Business Instinct (Lv. 1)] [Description: You no longer just see performance metrics and error rates. You can now perceive the underlying strategic value and untapped potential of corporate assets, including personnel. This skill allows you to align tasks not just with current skills, but with potential for growth.]
Leo's eyes widened. He instinctively looked through his glass wall at the empty desks of his subordinates. As he focused on each one, his System view of them changed. The old, sterile data was still there, but a new line had appeared beneath each name.
He focused on Ben's desk.
[Asset Value: High. Optimal Role: Quality Assurance / Risk Assessment. Untapped Skill: Systemic Pattern Recognition.]
He focused on Anna's.
[Asset Value: High. Optimal Role: Competitive Analysis / Counter-Strategy. Untapped Skill: Aggressive Innovation.]
And finally, Kevin's.
[Asset Value: Moderate. Optimal Role: Data Integrity / Process Auditing. Untapped Skill: Meticulous Compliance.]
He had been using a hammer to drive screws. He had been forcing them to be pale imitations of himself, when their true value lay in being something entirely different. The problem wasn't his team. The problem was him.