Stop calling every performance problem a skills gap. It’s the easiest diagnosis – someone says something inappropriate, put them on a diversity course. Regularly late? A timekeeping course. Job done, box ticked, and budget spent. Except most of the time it isn’t a skills gap at all. Ask a manager why their team keeps missing… Read More Not a gap
Course requests often arrive after the diagnosis has been skipped. A workshop request rarely turns up as an open question but arrives with a solution already attached: a course; a target audience; a format and duration; and sometimes even a supplier. What is usually missing is the diagnosis that would justify any of it. The… Read More Course Before Cause
Most conversations about developing capability stop at the individual. Can this person do the thing? Has that been assessed, confirmed and recorded? It tells you nothing about whether their work allows them to use it. In each case, the skill is there, but the conditions for using it are not. Workload, authority, tooling, management support… Read More Capability in Context
I was listening to Christopher Nolan discuss the process of writing and directing The Odyssey. When asked whether he had written Matt Damon’s part with the actor in mind, Nolan said: “Part of my writing process is to not ever think about actors while I’m writing.” His reasoning was that thinking about a familiar actor… Read More Performance not persona
In the Times last week, LinkedIn’s chief executive said the formula for useful content is “insight plus personality.” That feels broadly right, but it is not enough for outbound marketing. Good outbound is not simply about producing more posts, increasing reach or making yourself more visible. It is about helping the right people understand: That… Read More Insight plus Personality