Category Archives: Learning

Intuition of Capability

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“How do you know if you are able to do it, unless you try?” I asked.

Naomi looked skeptical in her contemplation. “I think I have a pretty good understanding of my own competence, what I am able to do and what I am not very good at.”

“And, how did you come to that intuitive sense of your ability?” I pressed.

“I guess it’s just self-observing over a lifetime of trials and tribulations,” she replied.

“So, given a new set of circumstances, given a new challenge, you have an existing insight of whether or not you will be successful?”

“More than that,” Naomi countered, “I have a sense of where my failure points would be and what I would have to do to overcome those obstacles. Let’s say I was to try to run a marathon, 26.2 miles this afternoon. I am a runner, but my intuition would be that I would fail. My failure point would be in the lack of conditioning for that distance. But, I also know that if I were to train that distance over a period of 12 weeks, I would most likely be successful.”

“I assume your initial intuition and subsequent analysis is correct,” I nodded. “So, in your role as a leader, how does this self-observation apply to your team members as they are faced with new challenges for which they are not competent?”

Halt, Where Are You Going?

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“I want to take an inventory of my strengths and weaknesses,” said Olivia, somewhat excited.

“What for?” I asked.

“I think it’s important for us all to be more self-aware,” she replied.

“Why?” I pressed.

“I’m sorry, I thought you would support my interest in some self-reflection.”

“Self-reflection is fine, it’s a worthy pursuit, but for the purpose of what? Let’s say you take a complete inventory, a strength here, a weakness there. And, your observations are absolutely accurate. So what? What have you really accomplished?”

“Well, I would be more self-aware,” Olivia was a bit exasperated.

“Compared to what? A strength here, a weakness there, compared to what? Your inventory is just an inventory. I want to know where you want to go. What does life look like, feel like, taste like in your imagination of the future? What is your next destination on your journey? What is its color? Who is with you? What it your purpose in traveling there?

“When you get clarity in your vision and purpose, then self-reflection will be helpful. Understanding your strengths that will power your journey, facing your faults that might stop your journey, that’s the real value of self-awareness. Before you take an inventory, tell me where you are going.”

Clothes for the Emperor

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The emperor has no clothes, the onlooker said, to the gasps of others. It’s easy to identify in other people. “Only when the tide goes out, do we find out who’s been skinny dipping,” said Warren Buffet.

Who is the emperor? Pogo says the enemy is us. Why is that such a surprise?

We figure out the world as it stands, at least in relation to our small circumstances. We are comfortable. We build our lives on the routine. The biggest mistakes are made when times are good.

The world changes. The first step in the cycle of loss is denial. The tide goes out and reveals our exposure, and we are the last to see it.

Seeing nakedness in other people is easy. Not so much for self-awareness.

Everything Slows Down

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“You wanted to see my training plan, so here it is,” Riley said, pushing the packet over to me.

“Looks good, I like it. You put some thought into each team member. They all need something different,” I replied. “Except you forgot about one person.”

Riley tilted her head. “No, I got everybody on my team.”

“Except you,” I smiled.

She smirked. “Yeah, well, our industry doesn’t have training for people at my level.”

I nodded in agreement. “I believe that, but ask yourself if there is something you need to learn that would make you more effective. In fact, think of it this way. Your team is not going to grow much better than you. If you, as the leader, are not growing, at some point, everything slows down. Or stops. If you want your organization to be best in class, the first person to start with is you.”

What Has Changed?

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What has changed? It’s a useful exercise. What has changed in your industry? What has changed about your customer? What has changed about your company, its products and services? What has changed about your team? What has changed about yourself?

Those positive habits you nurtured so carefully may have to be considered. Those habits may be keeping you from responding to the changes around you. It’s a constant reassessment.

What has changed?

Out Loud

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Much in your life will be determined by how you think and what you think about. Unfortunately, most people don’t think with much intention related to what they think about, and have little discipline about how they think. Words are the way we organize what we think. If you don’t know what you think, translate it into words, meaning, talk it out, talk it out loud.

When you talk your thoughts out loud, you will discover what you think and how you think. Sometimes, when you talk out loud, you will find your thoughts brilliant. Other times, when you talk out loud, you will discover the awful truth of the defect in your thinking.
—
Watch Tom Foster on Chris Comeaux’s Anatomy of Leadership.

The Balance

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An important tool for personal efficiency is the calendar. It allows us to synchronize our time with other people and events. To be even more efficient, our calendar lets us see the white space between things. A time management principle called chunking tells us to put things together, combine, to get rid of that white space. Soon, we have full day filled with color, no white space, perfectly efficient.

In delegation, if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person. A truly busy person is someone who has mastered the art of white space, knows how to slot something in, adjust their schedule and carry on as if it was all there in the beginning. This is the ultimate in creating order in the midst of chaos.

And soon, we have a life full of things on our calendar. Our calendar has us. This is the rat race, the hamster wheel. Is something missing.

The balance in life is not to create order out of chaos. The balance is created on the edge between order and chaos. We have to have enough order to allow time for chaos. Thinking is unstructured exploration into chaos, and with our calendars, we have eliminated it. Most CEOs, executive managers and managers don’t have enough time to think.

Sometimes, it gets so bad, we schedule a retreat on our calendars, to give us time to think. Is it possible to schedule a daily retreat, in the midst of order, which has now become our chaos, to simply think, to reflect, to examine, to explore, to focus attention. Could you make thirty minutes a day, to do nothing but think?

It’s Different Work

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Reggie was not defensive, but he was certainly pushing back. “It’s something I like to do,” he said. “Besides, it’s a half hour out of my day. Not something I want to delegate to someone else.”

“Are you saying, it’s something that gives meaning and purpose to your life?” I asked.

“Updating the WIP logs?” he chuckled. “I get the paperwork (electronic paperwork) in from the field. I know it is a bit clerical, but when I enter the data into the logs, I don’t know, it makes me feel good. Like I am really getting something done. Like marking things off on a checklist.”

“You are very results oriented, that’s why you were promoted to manager,” I replied. “You like to kick things off, get people moving, get things done, mark things in the WIP logs, you love to watch results, makes you feel connected to the work. You get endorphin juice.”

Reggie nodded. “You’re right. When I get the logs updated, I feel like I am in control, that the world is right. I do get a little juice out of the task.”

“Your work is different now. As a manager, your juice comes through other people, and it’s slower. It’s painful, to watch other people struggle through things that are easy for you. Your role now is to help other people feel in control, by getting them to mark progress, coaching them to the end of the project. If you continue to be intimately involved, you prevent your team from learning the details. You disable the team from organizing their work. They need your help, support and guidance, but they don’t need you to do it for them.”

Innovation Metrics

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“We are going to start measuring innovation,” Samuel announced.

I gave him a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, we believe our competitive advantage is our ability to innovate and bring new products and variations of products to the market, so we think it is important to measure it,” Samuel added.

“When you were working on your efficiency program, you developed metrics to determine improvement,” I said. “Why do you think your metrics worked well in those circumstances?”

It didn’t take Samuel long to ponder. “We had a system, and we worked to make that system predictable. When we determined what we wanted to control, the metrics just fell into place. Any variation was quickly identified and eliminated.”

“Pay close attention to your words,” I replied. “You were working in a system with predictability, control, seeking to eliminate variation. You now want to create a system of metrics to do just the opposite. Innovation is hard pressed to be systematic, certainly unpredictable, sometimes outside the bounds of control and designed to encourage variation. Just exactly how do you intend to measure that?”

Skill and Capability

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“I want to send this guy back to training,” Roger pursed his lips.

“Again?” I replied. “This would be the third time through.”

“I know, I know. But the mistakes he makes and the bone-headed decisions he makes, they just seem careless. If he would apply himself a little harder, he might have a break-through.”

“Roger, you have a classic managerial case of fixitis,” I replied. “You think you can fix people.”

Roger nodded. “Yes, I guess I do.”

“There is a big difference between skill and capability. You can train a skill, a skill can be learned. A skill can be practiced, honed and coached. But, you cannot teach capability. Capability is what it is. Please understand, capability grows and matures through a lifetime, but not from a two week training period.”