Something of an Achilles heel to pragmatism is that it can lead those that follow the principle concretely to never seek to take the long jumps in innovation or

Something of an Achilles heel to pragmatism is that it can lead those that follow the principle concretely to never seek to take the long jumps in innovation or product design... those pragmatists are doomed to incrementalism. Now incrementalism is not bad in itself; on the contrary it is more often useful than other approaches. However, sometimes you cannot increment and climb your way to the next great invention, company, or just reaching success. Sometimes it takes faith... and risk to reach those high places. Pragmatism doesn't forbid risks or leaps, but it's doctrine is to look at your feet, take small steps, and measure success of each incremental step. I say the best executive combos are one person who is idealistic rationalist (the Visionary), one experienced pragmatist (the Voice of reason), and a grounded traditionalist empiricist (the Sergeant). The Visionary pulls the Voice to take direction leaps as needed, and the Voice develops reasonable as-incremental-as-possible steps to get there. The Sergeant is meticulous in the day-to-day work, doesn't care much of the future, and deals with the active problems that need to be addressed. The Voice relies on data from the Sergeant to judge how well things are progressing. The trick is embodying all three characters. There are times to be a dreamer to know your future. There are times to just work and not think about tomorrow, and times to reflect over the past and determine the next small steps forward.