25 January Reinvent Yourself (...responsibility...)

[Paul Terlemezian]

Oftentimes I hear people (particularly technical people) lamenting that their skills are atrophying because their current job does not require the learning and application of new knowledge.

 

Job relevance is an understood prerequisite for the justification of workplace learning investments.

 

I often lament that similar to healthcare - many of us have abdicated to our employer the responsibility for our professional development.

 

This combination does not bode well for the individual that relies upon their employer to meet all of the professional development needs.

 

How willing is an individual to invest in their professional development if not reimbursed by their employer?

 

What innovations would you suggest as a solution to this problem?

[Paul Terlemezian]

The skills we have enable us to maintain or expand our knowledge so that we can apply the knowledge to learn how to do things better than we would do them if we did not have the knowledge.

For Example:

Reading is a skill. We use that skill to acquire the knowledge to accomplish a task such as cooking a meal. We learn how to cook a meal by actually doing it and overcoming the unforseen challenges that inevitably occur (e.g. phone calls, late arriving guests and not having all the ingredients in the proper ratios.)

We could also learn how to cook a meal without using the skill of reading. We could use the skill of observation and watch someone else cook or watch a video. We could use the skill of listening to an audio tape or radio show. We could also use the skill of experimentation and perhaps learn how to prepare a meal in a manner that is new to us (and perhaps to others.)

 

How does a salesperson learn the skill of prospecting?

What do you suppose occurred first - Corporations trained their sales people how to use social media to prospect or a sales person innovated independently to prospect using social media.

 

How are you improving your skills? Do you wait for someone to tell you what you need to do? Do you self-diagnose and find a way to improve on your own?

 

What type of person would you prefer to choose to hire or to manage? Are your company training policies consistent with your preference?

 

 

 

[Paul Terlemezian]

Look at your career in reverse by backing up 5 years at a time and comparing where you were then to 5 years later.

What were you doing in January of 2011? What are you capable of doing know that you could not do then?

What were you doing in January of 2006? What are you capable of doing know that you could not do then?

What were you doing a year ago? Six months ago? What are you capable of doing know that you could not do then?

Similarly - who do you work with know (or have become involved with anew) that you were not working with 5 years ago, a year ago? - a month ago?

How do you think others would answer this question in general?

How do you think others would have answered this question in general - 50 years ago?