Background. Based on the analysis of literary plots and consulting practice the paper identifies the ways of overcoming the "problem of success" and innovative activity by managers and executives.

Objective. The hypothesis of the research can be presented in the following way: efficient innovative activity, overall effectiveness of the manager causes a contradictory attitude to the success achieved. Being aware that success is largely ensured by creating and implementing innovations, and sometimes being unaware of the commitment to avoid losing the goal, the manager falls into one of two ways. He/she either involuntarily seeks to keep the aim of the activity simultaneously with the desire to achieve it, or he/she is looking for opportunities to set new goals based on the one that has already been achieved or opposed to it. Since the goal of achieving greater efficiency is almost always associated with innovations, it is assumed that in the leader’s relation to innovations one can judge how the leader overcomes the "problem of success" and how much he/she is aware of it.

Research Progress. The total sample consisted of 115 participants (including 78 males, 37 females), middle-level managers, aged 32 to 51. 14 experts participated in the research. Based on expert interviews, the respondents were divided into two groups: more successful and more innovative managers were performed by 63 participants; less successful and less innovative managers were performed by 52 participants.

The research methods were the author's questionnaire and interview.

Research Results. Based on the difference analysis between the two groups of managers statistically significant answers differ in 79 per cent in the pairs of participants. 

Conclusion. The conclusion is based on the fact that for the leaders who are quite successful in innovative activity a characteristic feature of experiencing success and moving towards new goals was the way whose key features were depicted by E. Hemingway in his literary works. The practical significance of the research is that the revealed signs of the efficient experience of success can become a subject of special awareness for managers who are stuck on the problem of success in one of two scenarios poorly realized by the subject of management activity.