Tag Archives: learning

What the Goal Doesn’t Tell

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“But, can’t we celebrate for just a moment? It has been a good year,” Yolanda was insistent.

“Yes, indeed. Celebrate the moment. And, there were good moments. But, what does that tell you about the future? Achieving this year’s goal tells you the mark in relation to your forecast, which was created a year ago. Where is your current journey and where are you along that path? Achieving your goal in relation to a forecast doesn’t tell you what went wrong that you can learn from. Achieving your goal doesn’t tell you where you could be if you had taken a different path. Achieving your goal doesn’t tell you about the preparations you took, the capacity your team developed, or didn’t develop.  It doesn’t tell you how good your competitors are, what the market was like or if you have the right people.  It doesn’t tell you who, on your team, has potential.  It’s fine to have the goal as a mark, but focus on the things that drive the goal.  Those are the rich moments in your journey.”

Simply Necessary

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“It sounds like you understand, or have an accurate sense of your own competence, but your team, faced with a challenge, avoids, denies, or tries to negotiate back to the old way?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s almost like a way of thinking,” Naomi replied. “There are things I know I am not good at, but those things do not scare me. Some on my team seem genuinely afraid of trying something new.”

“But, if you have made it necessary, how do you proceed without a brawl or deliberate retreat?” I smiled.

“I think it is a matter of attitude. A mental state. The circumstances of reality do not change, they are what they are. It’s a matter of how a person sees the challenge of something new. If my team enters with a framework of failure, that it is going to be hard, it is going to suck and they will get yelled at for the failure, then it’s going to be a long day. Somehow, I need to change the framework.”

“But, the difficulty in the process will still be the same?”

“Yes, but it’s quite another thing if the team can see this is new, this is difficult, they will struggle, they will make mistakes, but they will continue. Things will get better and they will have small breakthroughs. Then, there will be a setback. They will have to re-focus. But, they will not get yelled at, they will be encouraged to try again. How long does it take to teach a child to walk? It is simply necessary.”

Muddling

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“Given your intuitive sense of competence, an understanding of your current limits of success, and what it might take to overcome those limits in the future, how does that translate to your team?” I asked.

“To run a marathon, I need to train,” Naomi replied, “I get that. But, my team appears to see things differently. If you gave me a challenge to run a marathon, and I agreed this was something I wanted to do, then I would engage in the necessary training at that distance. When I give my team a challenge, beyond their current ability to perform, they seem to shy away, avoid, make excuses, find something else to busy themselves with.”

“So, first they would have to agree that it was something they wanted to do?” I confirmed.

“In many cases, they don’t have a choice,” Naomi smiled. “If we are changing a process that requires additional technical skills, we are going to change the process, no choice. It’s similar to the question, how long do you give a child to learn to walk? There is no choice.”

“So, as a leader, you make it necessary?” I nodded.

“People will just muddle through, if you let them. If we install a new process, there is no muddle. I have to make it necessary.”

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?”

Play at the Highest Game

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Skill is made up of two elements, technical knowledge and practiced performance. If the skill is to throw a ball, there is some technical knowledge you need to know about the ball. Does the ball have seams, round or oblong, fingers around the ball or inside the ball, underhand or overhand. You see, there’s some technical knowledge you need to know about the ball.

But if you really want to get good at throwing the ball, you also have to practice. When I interview a candidate, not only will I interview them for their technical knowledge, I will also interview them for their practice. What is your frequency of practice, depth of practice, duration of practice, accuracy of practice? Because if you don’t practice a skill, what happens to the skill?

And, so it also works with challenge. For a person to be happy in their job, they have to be challenged, at least for some material duration of time, to their highest level of competence. This may be as small as ten percent, maybe 40 percent, but some material duration of time. Without challenge, we get bored. Of course, we can complete the mundane portions of our tasks, but without challenge, we go home empty. We completed the checklist, but completed nothing of significance.

As we design roles for people to play, we have to adjust those roles so people play at their highest game, at least for a portion of each day. Because if we don’t practice a skill, the skill goes away.

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.”

Your Contribution

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The competent individual has a firm sense of the capability they possess and capability beyond. Periods of doubt creep in, but that leaves room for growth and maturity. Periods of doubt are painful, as the individual moves from an ordered world to one where there is doubt.

In this chasm, most of the problems we face are self-inflicted. Looking at any problem we encounter, there are the following characteristics. The problem. The problem’s impact. The cause of the problem. The context. And, then, there is you.

You (and we, because I have the same problems as you) are part of the problem. You have made contribution to the problem and its impact. You may be the cause of the problem. If you don’t face your contribution, any solution will leave lingering conditions for the problem to resurface, perhaps uglier than before.

It is always easier to deal with an external problem out there, than an internal problem closer to your heart.

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.”

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.”

Learning Something New

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What stops us from learning?

It’s not the complexity of the content, or how much there is to learn. The obstacles to learning most often exist in the head of the learner. Obstacles are more about beliefs and assumptions than the details of what has to be learned.

We learn to delegate effectively, not by learning a new delegation model, but by ridding ourselves of the assumption, if you want it done right, do it yourself. We hold back on sharing problem solving, not because the team members lacks the skills, but because there is a lack of trust. We hold back on sharing decision making, not because the team member is unable to make the decision, but because we, as managers, have always made that judgment call.

What stops us from learning is often, something inside our own head.