“The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.”
Pablo Picasso
I first picked up Eric Barker’s book Barking Up the Wrong Tree not because I was looking for a counter-narrative to success, but because the title made me pause. It felt like a nudge, a quiet whisper that perhaps, just perhaps, we are all working off the wrong script. As someone deeply involved in learning journeys and leadership development, this book made me stop, think, and reassess some core assumptions I hadn’t even realized I held.
The High School Valedictorian Trap
Table of Contents
Barker opens the book with a surprising observation. He argues that valedictorians, the straight-A students who often shine in structured academic environments, rarely dominate the real world. At first glance, this seems counterintuitive. Aren’t good grades supposed to be a predictor of future success? But Barker makes an important distinction. Schools reward compliance. Life, on the other hand, rewards adaptability, risk-taking, and creativity.
He draws attention to a startling statistic: among the Forbes 400 list of richest people, 58 either skipped college altogether or dropped out. These individuals didn’t just succeed despite bucking the system. In many cases, they succeeded because they did. Their net worth was 167 percent higher than the average of their Ivy League-educated counterparts.
This reminded me of conversations I often have during facilitation workshops. Many professionals are chasing KPIs, quarterly targets, and flawless appraisals without asking if they are pursuing the right mountain to climb. Barker’s insight is simple yet profound. Excellence in a system does not always prepare you to thrive outside it.
Why Being “Nice” Might Not Get You Far
Another memorable chapter explores the role of flattery and self-promotion in success. It might feel uncomfortable to admit, but being good at your job isn’t enough. You also need to make your value visible.
Barker walks a fine line here. He does not dismiss hard work. Instead, he highlights that working hard in obscurity is not a winning strategy. People who know how to package their contributions, influence perception, and communicate impact tend to do better.
At first, this rubbed me the wrong way. Shouldn’t merit speak for itself? But when I reflected on corporate environments I have been part of, I had to agree. Many highly capable individuals get overlooked simply because they assume someone else is noticing their effort. Barker’s point felt like a wake-up call. In a noisy world, visibility is not vanity, it is strategic.
If you are trying to help teams gain confidence in how they share their progress or ideas, especially virtually, you might enjoy this read on Presenting with Impact.
The Taker’s Dilemma
Barker also tackles the concept of “takers” people who advance by prioritizing their gain over others’. In the short term, takers often do well. They charm, network, and pull strings. But over time, this approach backfires. Organizations and teams suffer from trust deficits, toxic environments, and low collaboration.
I have witnessed this play out in real-time. Teams that celebrate taker behavior often lose their best people. The workplace becomes political, competitive in all the wrong ways. The long-term impact? Burnout, disengagement, and a revolving door of talent.
The antidote, according to Barker, is to be a “giver” but a smart one. Not someone who sacrifices their own goals, but someone who aligns generosity with boundaries and purpose.
This idea aligns deeply with our work in Building Trust in Teams. Real performance thrives in environments where people feel safe to share, help, and grow together.
Rewriting Your Inner Story
Midway through the book, Barker introduces a concept that has stayed with me: cognitive reappraisal. Instead of trying to power through challenges with brute willpower, he suggests changing the narrative.
Consider this. You are at a buffet and tempted by a steak, but you are trying to eat plant-based. Telling yourself “I must resist” burns willpower. But if you shift the story to “I am someone who does not eat meat,” the resistance fades. It is not a battle anymore. It becomes a reflection of identity.
This shift reminded me of how we often approach behavior change in organizations. We tend to focus on pushing people to do something different, when perhaps the more powerful lever is helping them become someone different. This subtle shift, from action to identity, is where transformation truly begins.
Games, Flow, and the Art of Framing Effort
Barker also draws from the world of gaming to make an unexpected point. Most popular video games are designed with an 80 percent failure rate. Yet, people keep playing. Why?
Because games are winnable. They break down goals into bite-sized milestones. They offer quick feedback. They match rising difficulty with rising skill. In short, they offer flow.
This mirrors some of the most engaging learning interventions I have been part of. When we transform training into gamified learning journeys, participation skyrockets. People want to play. They want to win. And they internalize learnings along the way.
The Mountain Metaphor That Changed Me
One of the final images Barker leaves us with is the idea of a mountain. He invites us to stop obsessing over the peak. Instead, we must focus on taking the next step. When we zoom out too far, the goal feels overwhelming. When we zoom in on the path, it becomes doable.
This simple metaphor reshaped how I approached long-term projects. Whether you are leading a digital transformation or building a new L and D framework, the key is to start small. Break things down. Celebrate each milestone. Let momentum do the rest.
It reminds me of what we often discuss when coaching new managers: the power of consistent, incremental improvement. Not perfection. Just progress.
Final Thoughts: Are We Barking Up the Right Tree?
Eric Barker does not hand us a recipe for success. He gives us something more valuable. A way to question the ingredients.
In the world of corporate learning and development, we often default to best practices. But this book gently urges us to challenge them. To pause and ask, what does success look like for me, for this team, for this season?
For anyone navigating change, developing people, or redefining success for themselves or others, Barking Up the Wrong Tree is worth your time. Not because it answers all your questions. But because it dares to ask better ones.
And sometimes, that is exactly what we need.
Also Read: Helping Employees Find Their True Potential
Let us keep questioning. Let us keep learning. And let us stop barking up the wrong tree.
