“Why are habits connected to competence?” I asked. Muriel and I had been talking about competence in the workplace. Muriel was promoted to manager in her department two years ago.
It was like a trip down memory lane. “When I first became a manager,” she started, “I was awful. I thought I was such a hot shot, walking around telling everyone what to do. Within a couple of weeks, productivity in my department was at an all time low, and I couldn’t figure it out. That’s when you began to talk to me about the Power of the Question.
“So, I started asking questions. Instead of telling my team how to do the work more efficiently, I began asking them how they could do the work more efficiently. I didn’t do it very often, but when I did, remarkable things happened. Over time, I got better at asking questions. Now, asking questions is a habit.”
“So, what competence is connected to the habit?” I followed.
“The competence is challenging my team. Challenging them to higher levels of performance, productivity, efficiency.”
“So, competence is all about acquiring a new habit.” -TF
Like lots of things, changing a habbit start with the necessary self reflection. (People in your environment can help with this). What are my habbits today and how do I have to change to adjust to the new challenges that come to us? To my experience: if we skip the self reflecting part, we bump into the wall sonner or later and hopefully learn the lesson the hard way. But it all comes down to one thing: If one wants to lift themselves to the next level, one must act within themselves.