This has also been my impression. I think the paradox is roughly this: - People who understand driving the most meaningful outcome may not be egotistic enough

This has also been my impression. I think the paradox is roughly this: - People who understand driving the most meaningful outcome may not be egotistic enough to want to drive it (they're content in life, their self-worth is unlinked to their outcomes) - People who are willing to sacrifice lifestyle to drive meaningful outcomes also care about being right and are easily blinded by their ego when they're wrong And the most depressing of all: - Commanding the resources to drive meaningful outcomes too often goes hand-in-hand with being entrenched in some kind of a system that's too inefficient/bureaucratic/political to actually empower anyone to drive meaningful outcomes. Another crutch: - Driving meaningful outcomes can go hand-in-hand with absolute and utter obsession for navigating whatever is needed to drive it. Personally I understand it as the doing/reflecting dichotomy. Doing the doing leaves little room for reflecting and vice versa.