Background & Purpose: The present study aims to analyze the role of individual genius in the formation of collective paralysis and the emergence of Apollo syndrome in knowledge-based organizations, using a data-based approach.
Methodology: This is an applied and descriptive-exploratory research. A qualitative study was conducted with in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 senior managers, founders, and technical team leaders in knowledge-based organizations. Purposive and theoretical sampling was conducted based on higher education and direct experience in managing elite teams until theoretical saturation.
Findings: Apollo Syndrome is a multi-layered phenomenon centered on the “collapse of collective intelligence in the context of an abundance of individual intelligence”; a situation in which cognitive assets become their opposites through faulty interactions. Causal conditions include extreme cognitive hemophilia, the intellectual property paradox, and intergenerational disconnection. Contextual conditions (legacy of previous cooperation or conflict and intellectual property regime) and intervening factors (contradictory team maturity and stakeholder pressure for immediate results) moderate this trajectory. The final model shows that this cycle is perpetuated in the Iranian context with faulty strategies such as the sanctification of individual expertise, leading to the silent exit of knowledge, the decline in the quality of strategic decision-making, and the regression of innovation.