I recently came across an interesting article in The Economist that asked a simple question. If you could give your children one quality, what would it be? Intelligence? Empathy? Confidence?

The article suggested something else; an internal locus of control – the belief that your actions can influence what happens to you. The idea stayed with me because I think it matters far beyond parenting. It matters particularly in Pakistan.

We live in an environment where it is remarkably easy to develop the opposite belief. We worry and complain about so much; the economy, politics, government, corruption, sifarish culture. Not to mention the system and even fate!

To be fair, these things do influence our lives. Sometimes enormously. But there is a danger when recognising external constraints becomes believing that we have no agency within them.

I have seen the difference throughout my working life. Two managers face the same difficult market. One explains why the target cannot be achieved. The other asks what can still be done. Two entrepreneurs encounter the same obstacle. One waits for circumstances to improve while the other searches for another route.

The difference is not necessarily intelligence. It is agency.

Research cited in the article suggests that people with a stronger internal locus of control search harder for jobs, save more and are more likely to turn entrepreneurial intentions into action. This made me think about something I have increasingly come to believe about organizations and I have written about it in this space and elsewhere.

Sustainable performance ultimately comes from capability.

We can build systems, processes and structures. We can hire talented people and provide them with resources. But capability develops when people learn to think, decide, act and adapt for themselves.

That requires agency. One of the most important things leaders can build is not simply competence, but an environment in which people believe they can make a difference and are expected to try.

Organisations become capable when their people stop asking “Why can’t this be done?”and start asking “What can I do about it?”