Knowledge at Work - Episode 9

In this episode represents the end of our first season.  It has been an interesting journey and we want to fit some of the concepts we discussed together and talk about what comes next. 

These themes apply across all our groups and provide a guide on how we can think about the future. 

Development is critical, in an ever-changing world people and entities need to continually develop, grow, and evolve to remain relevant. 

Communications is a combination of what we communicate and how we communicate it.

Finaly, and perhaps most importantly, experimentation is a tool we need to be comfortable using to find our way through the unknown.

Across all three groups it is critical that we all develop to prepare for the future. 

For Talent development looks like adding skills and finding your place in Organizations that are evolving.  As a reminder especially for younger Talent, your Organization is investing in you with that investment comes expectations.  You have great opportunities, but to take advantage of them you need to contribute as well. 

Management needs to help their Talent develop while also learning new skills to get the most out of their teams while also navigating a changing environment.  As a group the success of development lies primarily with Management.  Finding the right balance where you are developing your Talent without burning them out is incredibly difficult.

Organizations need to invest in their people at unprecedented levels.  They also need to adapt to create environments where Talent has opportunities to grow.  The old adage of “what if we train them and they leave?” will ring true.  The combination of the opposite “what if you don’t train them and they stay” and a tighter labor market creates new tensions for Organizations. 

It is critical that we all recognize that Development has changed.  Historically there was a natural progression and when things changed at a slower rate, we were able to master things then leverage that mastery with less continued investment in Development. 

As the pace of change has increased, one impact is the maintenance cost of mastery has increased and at the same time the amount of possible knowledge has increased. Since it is more difficult to obtain mastery across the entirety of the profession people specialize.

Especially with technology and technical knowledge the pace of change has created a constantly expanding capacity to learn.  Put a different way, even when we know everything today the pace of change means that tomorrow there will be more to learn. 

This represents a fundamental change to how knowledge operates for Talent, Management, and Organizations.  Let's walk through what this looks like for people developing across a career. 

For the charts below, we will be tracking knowledge over time across a theoretical career in both the old and new worlds.  This is not actual data, but an example based on the assumption that the pace of change has increased over time. 

The buckets we are considering are technical, technology, soft skills, and capacity.

For people starting out not much has changed. Since people are entering the work world with relatively low levels across the board there is massive capacity to learn.  Of note young people do typically start with more technology knowledge relative to their technical and soft skills. 

As we move to the 30- to 40-year-olds we see a shift between technology and capacity as there is more technology that can be learned.  On the individual level people will gravitate towards either technical or technology and do a better job of keeping up on the one or the other.  For this example, I put the deficit in technology because most firms are continuing to make investments in the technical development of their Talent at this point in their careers. 

The thing to notice is as we progress through our careers the capacity is growing due to the expanding nature of knowledge in the world.  

As we move to the 40- to 50-year-olds the capacity continues to grow. A shift to notice here is again capacity is growing as a result of pulling from technical and technology.  At this stage soft skills are the same as the old world, but as a percentage soft skills are now a larger percentage than technical and technology. 

Each individual will be different, but the takeaway is on the average soft skills are increasing in importance as the ability to obtain broad mastery diminishes.  Put a different way, when each person has a more specialized body of knowledge it becomes more important for them to be able to communicate and share that knowledge with others.  Since clients still need a broad set of services the Organizations that thrive will be the ones where their Talent can work across to leverage their strengths to produce value. 

As we move to the 50- to 60-year-olds the difference is most stark here.  In the old world at this point in a career there was very little left to learn.  Naturally, technology knowledge shrinks later in life, but in the old world it was masked by the technical mastery and soft skills developed over a career. 

I want to again point out this is a generalization based on the assumption that the pace of change has increased.  Each person is different and there will always be outliers who are able to break the model.  But on the average, I would encourage you to think about the impacts of this change on how you approach Development. 

What do we need to do as it relates to Development?

We need to recognize that times have changed, and we need to do things differently.  It is also critical to continue to do this moving forward.  As the pace of change continues to be very rapid the environment for development will continually shift.  Successful Organizations, Managers, and Organizations will continue to adapt to continued changes. 

We also need to be more intentional about development and apply the two other concepts to development.  Since we do not know the answers, we need to experiment and since this is such a critical aspect to success we need to communicate about it. 

Investment

Investment in development is critical from all three players.

Talent needs to recognize the need to invest their time in developing their skills.  Especially early in your career your greatest opportunities lie in developing your skills.  The best way to do this is through working more hours.  Initially this will be very difficult, and your Managers and Organization need to help you find the right balance but know this will likely result in going beyond your capacity until you develop skills and self knowledge of what you are capable of doing.  Much like an elite athlete you will train and develop skills over time.  To get to the next stage you will need to push yourself. 

Management needs to balance pushing and resting their Talent.  Your job as Management is to get the most out of your Talent and a big part of that is developing their skills and endurance.  This also requires you to develop your skills so you can do a better job of developing your Talent. 

Organizations need to find a balance and create environments where Talent and Management can thrive. These environments need to look different to what came before. Just because something worked in the past does not mean it is the best solution for the future.  Talent today have different demands and recognizing these changes and creating environments where they can develop over time is in the best interest of Organizations.

Young people starting to work need time to develop their skills and one of those skills is their mental stamina.  Organizations need to find ways to ensure that young people can ease into work life.  This can be frustrating because historically we have not done a good job of this and for generations people have been pushed beyond their limits early in their career and fought through to develop these skills and abilities.  The potential reward is Talent who stay and who build their abilities over the long term. 

To be clear this involves a greater initial investment by Organizations.  This can be very difficult, but working through that difficulty can create greater opportunities in the future. 

The cost to communicate information is essentially zero, at the same time the value of communicating the right things at the right time using the right tools has skyrocketed. 

For Organizations this is a critical area to find balance and to continually adapt.  Norms around what can and cannot be shared are evolving and for Organizations the tensions of what people are doing and what labor laws allow can be a challenge. 

Management once again gets caught in the middle trying to use the tools Talent expects while adhering to the policies the Organization has in place. 

Talent is typically pushing for more communications.  One thing we repeatedly discussed was the importance of Talent understanding their place in the Organization and that as things change recognizing they are driving change that is not comfortable for their Management or Organizations. 

Communications is a puzzle where we need to consider different aspects that all relate to one another.  The critical thing is to get everything aligned so...

It fits together to create something that fits in with everything else the Organization is doing. 

What To Communicate

When we think about what we should be communicating I would encourage you to think about three things. 

First, share as much as you can.  The HR laws in your state are critical to follow, but beyond that the more you share the more your Talent will trust you.  This will likely be a difficult shift from the historical practice of sharing just enough information for people to do their jobs.  The benefit of this is you take away people making up their own stories about what is happening. 

Second, explain why things are the way they are.  Historically we have all said because I said so when asked why something is the way it is.  Then people just made up their own stories, usually that the decision makers are a bunch of jerks.  Especially when there is information you cannot share, it is important to communicate why you cannot share something. 

Finally, being human and sharing how things impact you personally can build mountains of trust.  This is another very uncomfortable thing to do and striking the right balance is critical. If the Organization has a big win, sharing your excitement can help your Talent feel included and connected to the Organization.  Conversely, if the Organization has a setback sharing your disappointment communicates to your Talent that you are invested in the Organization. 

How To Communicate

As important as what we say is the way in which we say things.  Again I have three ideas to keep in mind. 

First, there is a vast difference between typing something and saying something.  The written word is our simplest form of communication, it is stripped of tone and all the non-verbal communication included in spoken word.  Even an audio recording conveys magnitudes more information than the written word.  On the flip side when you speak people hear what they want to hear and can take away wildly different messages.  Being intentional about which method to use is critical and if something is important enough it is perfectly acceptable to use both forms of communication.  For example, if a critical change is being made starting with a meeting then following up with an email that provides more tactical detail is a great approach.  Circling back to what we share, I would encourage you to try to explain why you are doing things through spoken word first. 

Second, when using written formats be intentional about which method you use.  This is an area where having a communications plan is very helpful.  Explaining to the Organization when to us which tool eliminates questions and reduces time spent by Talent and Management deciding which tool to use.  This is also an area where training and discussion is valuable.  As new tools enter the market we need to work on how we use them to their best advantage. 

The easiest example of this is email vs. instant messaging.  If there is a project specific issue, we can either send an email to the team working on that project or post to an instant message group with the same people.  When we use email the person who is out will return to a full inbox of communication they need to digest.  Putting this in instant messenger allows people to go to that source when they are working on that project again. 

Finally, tone is important and often overlooked.  Across all formats taking time to carefully assess your tone can determine how your messages are received.  This is a great area for Management to include Talent in the process.  If there is a critical message ask Talent to review and tell you how they felt the tone was conveyed.  It is also acceptable to tell Talent the tone you are trying to strike and ask for help in achieving that goal.  One last tool in the tone area is artificial intelligence, asking one of the tools to give this message a specific tone is a great way to use these tools.

When To Communicate

When it comes to timing there are two concepts to apply or consider. 

The first is obvious in the actual time you do the communications.  It is important to understand that the time a message is delivered sends its own message.  The easiest example of this is the late-night email.  These are sending a message that the person sending the message is always working and this can set the expectation that others are constantly checking for messages.  Most of the time the late-night message is sent because the sender needed to work then, but it is critical to recognize the message that is sending to others. 

The other consideration is when during a project or issue do you communicate.  In general, it is best to share bad news as soon as possible.  There are two reasons for this.  The first is if something bad has happened it will likely need to be fixed and the more time you can give others to fix the problem the better.  The second is knowing you must deliver bad news carries a mental strain, the longer you hold that bad news in your to-do list the larger the strain. 

If you have a project that impacts people across your Organization, think about how you can communicate throughout the process.  If this is addressing an issue, there is benefit in letting those impacted know that the issue is being addressed and then setting an expectation of when the issue will be resolved.  Again, if the resolution is going to take longer that is bad news and should be communicated earlier rather than later. 

Who We Communicate To

So far we talked about what information to share, how we deliver the message, and when we should share the message.  The final part of the puzzle is who do we include in the messaging.  Two considerations to keep in mind.

First, is the continuum of only sharing information with the fewest possible people vs. sharing everything with everybody.  This is the area with the highest potential for trouble.  There is danger on both ends of the spectrum.  If we tell everybody everything there will be overload of information and Monday morning quarterbacking.  On the flip side not sharing enough will lead to people making up their own stories about what they believe is happening.  At the Organizational level creating some framework for Management and Talent to use in making these decisions can be very helpful.  Especially as it relates to client communications having clear rules and expectations of who is included in communications is very important. 

Second, is the amount of distraction created when information is or is not shared with people.  If we share project specific information with a broad audience, it can create distraction to the folks not directly involved in the project.  Another area to consider is if an issue is discovered that is caused or impacts only a small group.  When we include a broader audience in these communications it causes more people to think about the issue.  We have all been in situations where one person is doing something wrong and instead of taking that person aside and asking them to change the Organization creates a new policy that applies to everybody.

Office Fridge Example

Let's walk through an example of communications that even a two-person Organization likely deals with, the office fridge. 

What do we need to communicate?  Ideally there will be some rules around what can be put in and how long it is allowed to stay there. I would also encourage people to put their name on items and for special rules around condiments that may have a longer fridge life.  If you can’t tell I have more experience with fridge conflict than I would like.

How do we communicate? If there are rules that apply to the fridge, they should be visible on the fridge.  The easiest thing to do is have the rules printed and physically on the fridge.  I would also encourage having a place for suggestions related to the rules in case someone has a better idea of how to manage the fridge.

When do we communicate? If there are issues communicate them as soon as they start.  My experience with office fridge issues is rules aren’t followed then someone complains to each individual in the Organization except for the person causing the issue.  The rotten lunch has now cost cumulative hours of time when it should have just been thrown away by the person who noticed it. 

Who do we communicate to? This is where the how we communicate becomes really important.  If fridge messages are done on the fridge, then people using it will see the message and those who do not are not impacted or distracted.

This may feel like a silly example, but in a prior episode we talked about stacking small advantages.  Addressing internal issues like the office fridge is a perfect example for an office situation.  This is not something that is going to result in exponential growth, BUT it is something that has the potential to have a huge cost in lost productivity.  

If Development is the focus of Management and the Organization’s focus is on Communications that leaves Experimentation for Talent. 

While the actual performing of experiments may fall primarily on Talent’s plate this is the area that requires the most attention to balance. 

Talent will be pushing to make things better and to adopt technology and processes quickly.  This is how things have always worked, as we get older we get comfortable with how things have been done and new tools and processes can be intimidating. 

Just doing something different isn’t an experiment.  An experiment involves documenting things before the actual change happens so that we can evaluate the impact of the change. 

Experimentation is a skill that needs to be developed and practiced.  There are many formats and options available.  This is a very basic outline of the steps involved in a good experiment.  Let's discuss them in three sections, pre work, experiment, post work.

Pre-Work

Step one is identifying the problem, I add the word tension here from the Brave New Work episode because I feel that is a great place to start.  Once we have an issue / tension we want to address we move to step two.

Agreeing on a solution is important in that it sets the stage for the experiment.  The solution is what we are testing. 

Step three is agreeing on the outcome.  If we do not do this before we start we can go back later and manipulate this so that we get what we want and not what achieves our objectives. 

The final step in the pre-work is setting the rules.  This is a further definition of the Solution from step two.  The important thing here is clearly defining what will be done. 

Experiment

The actual experiment phase should involve following the rules and documenting anything of note.  This is the area with the greatest potential for learning and developing this skill.  Early experiments will likely not get the rules perfect and over time you will learn how to do this better.  As you are starting out consider creating a rule for how to change the rules during the process.  If you identify an issue early in the process there is no need to work around it. 

Another thing to keep in mind during this phase is experiments involve change and there will naturally be some investment to adapt to the change.  Over time you will learn how long your team needs to adapt to change and your rules can capture this so your experiments have the time they need for people to get through the initial hump of adapting. 

A final thought on the experiment itself.  The intent is critical, we do not experiment when things are working great.  We are doing an experiment because we identified an issue that we want to address.  A failed experiment doesn’t mean you need to go back to where you were before.  This should be a cycle where the end of one experiment drives the beginning of another.  Finding the ideal amount of experimentation is a key role for Management in this process.  Not trying anything new is just as bad as never doing the same thing twice, striking the right balance can be an experiment in itself. 

Post-Work

After the experiment it is critical to review what happened and decide how to move forward.  This is where the initial step of defining success and failure is critical.  After the experiment look back and see how things went and share the outcome of the experiment with everybody involved.  There should be one of two outcomes.

Success where the experiment did what you hoped it would. You can now take the improvement and implement it broadly.

Failure where the outcome was not what you wanted.  At this point you need to decide if you go back to the way things were or try another experiment. 

Over time you should get better at the process.  In the beginning I would recommend starting with easier and more straight forward issues.  Over time as you get better you can tackle more difficult issues. 

We have reached the end of the season and need to decide what comes next. 

Over the coming months we will add some resources to prior episodes to help Organizations implement these concepts. 

As we discover more interesting articles, books, and podcasts we will compile a list for next season.  When that season happens depends in part on you.  We need to hear from you on what worked and didn’t.  Your responses will drive where this effort goes.  Below is a link to a survey where you can share your thoughts and ideas for where to take this effort.