Leadership today can feel like flying a plane through dense fog.
You’re managing priorities, pressures, and people. You’re flying through turbulence, and the instruments keep changing. And still, you’re expected to chart a clear course, adapt to change in real time, and help others do the same.
But what if the biggest threat to your trajectory isn’t external? What if it’s how your own experience shapes what you can no longer see?
When experience becomes a blindfold
The Curse of Knowledge is a cognitive bias that occurs when we become so familiar with something that we stop examining it. Once we “know” something, our brains tag it as settled. We make it part of the mental autopilot.
That’s helpful for getting through a busy day. But it’s dangerous in an environment that demands change.
Here’s how it shows up:
- “That’s how we’ve always done it.”
- “We already tried that.”
- “Our customers wouldn’t go for it.”
These aren’t facts. They’re filters — installed by past experience, running quietly in the background. We don’t notice them because they feel like truth. But the real problem is that we stop questioning them.
The Curse of Knowledge makes it harder to see new solutions, new paths, and new ways to solve the new challenges you’re facing.
And in a business like yours — where competition is fierce, timelines are tight, and customer expectations keep evolving — that can cost you dearly.
From obstacle thinking to possibility thinking
There’s a different way to lead through uncertainty, and it starts with possibility thinking.
Possibility thinkers don’t assume that the first roadblock is the end of the road. They’re willing to look again. To question what seems fixed. To ask, “What else could be true?”
This isn’t wishful thinking. It’s disciplined curiosity.
And in industries balancing new technologies, workforce dynamics, economic pressures, and rapid change, curiosity is one of the most underutilised competitive advantages available.
Here are three practical ways to break out of the Curse of Knowledge and shift from “obstacle” to “opportunity”:
1. Assumption smashing
Most of what limits your thinking isn’t a real rule. It’s a made-up one — created by your brain based on all your past experience and expertise.
People absorb assumptions from their own history: what’s worked, what hasn’t, what got praised, what got shut down. But just because something was true once doesn’t mean it’s true now.
Assumption smashing is the act of surfacing those invisible “rules” and breaking them on purpose.
In innovation sessions, it often takes just one bold move — and it shifts the entire room. Once someone questions what others were treating as non-negotiable, it unlocks the permission to do the same.
One person’s reframing can become everyone’s breakthrough.
As a leader, that person needs to be you. You go first — and show others that it’s not only allowed to question assumptions, it’s expected.
2. Change the question
If a team is stuck, the problem might not be the problem. It might be how it’s being defined.
Small changes in language lead to big differences in thinking. Let’s say the goal is to reduce customer churn. It could be framed as:
- “How can we retain customers?”
…or:
- “How can we surprise our customers?”
- “How might we create something they’d brag about?”
- “What would make them stay, even if a competitor charged less?”
Each question sends the brain down a different path.
The goal isn’t to wordsmith. It’s to find the frame that leads to fresh possibility.
3. Borrow a brain
Sometimes teams are simply too close to the problem.
That’s why bringing in someone who doesn’t “know how it works here” can be so powerful. They’re not stuck inside the same patterns. They don’t carry the same assumptions.
Invite a colleague from another department. Pair up a veteran with a next-generation team member. Ask a new hire what they see.
Fresh eyes can expose what the Curse of Knowledge has hidden.
You’re already flying — just don’t forget to check the map.
Pilots check their instruments constantly. They don’t assume. They cross-check. They adjust course when needed.
As a leader, that same discipline matters.
The Curse of Knowledge isn’t a flaw. It’s a cognitive bias — a natural part of how human brains work. But it doesn’t have to decide what’s possible. It can be challenged, and others can be led to do the same.
You’re already flying the plane.
Now ask yourself: Are you still headed in the right direction?
The most dangerous limits are rarely external.
They’re the ones that go unquestioned.
Susan Robertson empowers individuals, teams, and organisations to more nimbly adapt to change, by transforming thinking from “why we can’t” to “how might we?” She is a creative thinking expert with over 20 years’ experience speaking and coaching in FTSE 500 companies. As an instructor on applied creativity at Harvard, Susan brings a scientific foundation to enhancing human creativity. To learn more, please visit: SusanRobertsonSpeaker.com.
His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V
Anurag Bajpayee's Gradiant: The water company tackling a global crisis
In a world increasingly defined by scarcity, one resource is emerging as the most quietly decisive factor in the future of industry, sustainability, and even geopolitics: water. Yet, while the headlines are dominated by energy transition and climate pledges, few companies working behind the scenes on water issues have attracted much public attention. One of them is Gradiant, a Boston-based firm that has, over the past decade, grown into a key player in the underappreciated but critical sector of industrial water treatment.
A Company Born from MIT, and from Urgency
Founded in 2013 by Anurag Bajpayee and Prakash Govindan, two researchers with strong ties to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Gradiant began as a scrappy start-up with a deceptively simple premise: make water work harder. At a time when discussions about climate change were centred almost exclusively on carbon emissions and renewable energy, the trio saw water scarcity looming in the background.
Their insight was that some of the world’s largest industries—semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and beverage—were facing acute water-related challenges long before the general public grasped the issue. “Without water, these industries don’t just slow down; they stop,” Bajpayee has often remarked. What Gradiant offered was not just a way to save water, but a way to rethink how it is used, recycled, and valued.
The Engineers Behind the Mission
Anurag Bajpayee, the company’s CEO, whose academic path took him to MIT, where he completed a PhD in Mechanical Engineering focused on water treatment technologies. It was there that he met Govindan, a fellow engineer and now Gradiant's co-founder and COO, whose expertise complemented his in fluid mechanics and process engineering.
Unlike many founders who drift towards the language of venture capital and corporate strategy, Anurag Bajpayee and his team remained grounded in the technical problem: how to make industrial water treatment more efficient, more affordable, and more sustainable. The company still bears the imprint of its founders’ engineering roots. Gradiant is less Silicon Valley startup and more MIT lab, albeit one that has quietly expanded across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
What Gradiant Actually Does
The company specializes in designing and building bespoke water treatment and reuse systems for industrial clients. Its technologies are aimed at enabling factories and plants to reclaim water that would otherwise be discarded as waste, reducing both the amount of water withdrawn from natural sources and the volume of contaminated water discharged.
At the heart of Gradiant’s portfolio are proprietary technologies such as Counter Flow Reverse Osmosis (CFRO), Carrier Gas Extraction (CGE) and Selective Ion Recovery (SIR), developed from the Gradiant founders’ early research at MIT. Unlike traditional methods like reverse osmosis, these systems are designed to handle highly contaminated or complex wastewater streams, enabling clients to extract clean water even from previously unusable sources.
But Gradiant does not sell “one-size-fits-all” machines. Each project is tailored to the customer’s unique needs. For a semiconductor plant in Singapore, this might mean achieving ultrapure water reuse levels of 98%; for a food and beverage factory in Texas, it might be about safely treating wastewater for discharge while minimising energy consumption. The company's approach—sometimes called "solutioneering" internally—is both its competitive advantage and its raison d'être.
Expansion Without the Usual Hype
Gradiant’s growth has been quietly impressive. From its first commercial project in the oil and gas sector, it has gone on to complete over 500 installations worldwide. The company has raised more than $400 million in funding from a mix of institutional investors and private equity firms, achieving so-called “unicorn” status, with a valuation reportedly over $1 billion.
Unlike many green tech firms, Gradiant’s expansion has not been accompanied by flashy marketing campaigns or grandiose statements. Instead, the company has preferred to build credibility client by client, particularly in Asia, where water-intensive industries and growing environmental pressures make its services indispensable. Anurag Bajpayee, never one to speak in superlatives, frames the company’s expansion as a “response to urgent need” rather than a triumph of business.
Inside Gradiant’s Operations
At its core, Gradiant is still an engineering-first company. Anurag Bajpayee and Govindan, both technically trained and heavily involved in the company’s operations, have instilled a culture where R&D is not just a department but the lifeblood of the business. The firm currently holds more than 250 patents globally, a testament to its ongoing commitment to innovation.
But Gradiant’s success is not just about technology. The company has differentiated itself by offering not just equipment but full-service solutions, including project design, construction, operations, and maintenance. This full-stack approach has been particularly attractive to clients in highly regulated industries, who need water management solutions that work seamlessly and reliably without requiring deep in-house expertise.
Gradiant’s clients include some of the world’s largest manufacturers, including Fortune 500 companies in sectors like microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, and energy. Some, like semiconductor producers, rely on Gradiant to help them meet stringent water reuse targets while maintaining ultra-clean production environments.
Navigating a Changing World
Gradiant operates at the intersection of several converging trends: climate change, regulatory pressure, and industrial decarbonisation. In many regions, water scarcity has become the limiting factor for industrial growth, sometimes more than energy availability or supply chain constraints.
While public attention often focuses on domestic water use, it is industries that consume the lion’s share of freshwater. Gradiant's pitch is straightforward: industries will have to do more with less, and Gradiant offers the tools to make that possible.
Anurag Bajpayee is keenly aware of the paradox that water, despite being vital, is often underpriced and undervalued, especially when compared to energy. “We don’t pay what it’s worth, only what it costs,” he told an audience at a recent conference. Yet, the landscape is shifting. Regulators, investors, and companies themselves are increasingly acknowledging water as both a business risk and a social responsibility.
What's Next for Gradiant?
Looking ahead, Gradiant appears poised to play a central role as industries adapt to water scarcity. Yet, Anurag Bajpayee remains cautious about the hype cycle. "The problem we’re working on isn’t going anywhere," he says. "It’s not a question of innovation alone, but of execution—of making sure these solutions actually reach the places that need them most."
In an era where water risk is increasingly material to business, Gradiant’s quiet, technically grounded approach may prove to be exactly what is needed.
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Eastern Eye. The publication does not endorse or take responsibility for the accuracy of any statements made by the author.)