“When you had the meeting,” I asked, “and two people volunteered ideas, how did you know they were the ones you could count on and delegate to?”

“I didn’t,” Madison replied. “Snap judgement would have said, give them a promotion, give them a raise, but just because they had one or two good ideas does not mean they could actually execute. Just because someone has information doesn’t mean they understand it. And, just because someone understands it, doesn’t mean they can take action, or will take action.”

“And?”

“So, I asked each of them to put together a small project team and test their idea to see how it worked. It was a project, on the real line, with real project members, using real materials and assemblies.”

“What did you learn?” I wanted to know.

“Both teams were successful,” Madison answered. “I have two leaders that I can continue to assign project work. Somewhere, there will be a failure point and then, I will know where they will bump their head. We can always work inside head bumps, but now I will know.”

“I’m encouraged,” I nodded.

“Not done yet,” Madison insisted. “Just because they have the information, doesn’t mean they understand it. Just because they understand it, doesn’t mean they will take action. Just because they take action, doesn’t mean they can consistently act to form a habit. That’s next.”