Learning to Learn

Over a period of time you get a sense of how you prefer picking up new skills/learning. 

That’s a powerful realization as then you have a method which you can replicate and possibly seamlessly weave into your working life and not make learning a separate project by itself.

When it comes to picking up ‘skills’ – the method that seems to work for me is ‘deliberate practice’ around 4/5 times a week for atleast 3 months – and then ‘muscle memory’ (dance terminology J) starts kicking in.  

I first experienced this while training in dance.  I knew my flair for it – but till time I trained once or twice a week – my progress was labored. But then change once I moved my training to 4/5 times a week – and started to make very rapid progress.

Currently I am starting to see benefits of using this method in swimming. I could hardly swim sometime back and now I am starting to make strong progress.

When it comes to learning languages though – I find that writing, reading, and listening is easier than speaking fluently. Obviously that’s a reflection of fact that I don’t have much current opportunities to practice daily speaking a different language.

When it comes to picking up ‘knowledge’ – the method that seems to work for me is ‘reading’ and ‘reflecting on how this applies to a particular situation’ – which in turn gives me a few ideas on what could be implemented at work – and once I implement the same – the learning becomes deeper. Andragogy in short! J

 

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Sourav

Global Initiatives

What should one keep in mind when planning large scale initiatives across multiple countries involving possibly thousands of people?  

I think there are 3 key things to look at:

·       What should be overall key goals? You can’t factor in all goals. Usually you mayn’t be able to focus on more than 2-3 goals at a time.

·       Why will it make sense for different stakeholders to make the initiative a priority?

·       How will you set up and co-ordinate execution mechanism?

These are my initial thoughts as I start off work in this space. More to come! J

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Sourav

Innovation Skills Teams Need to Succeed

Came across this very interesting video where authors talk about innovation skills needed for teams to succeed.

 

They differentiate between 3 kind of professionals at workplace - innovators, executors, and developers (who can do both innovation and execution).

 

They then goes on to list 5 skills that innovators have (questioning, observing, networking, experimenting, and association), and 4 that executors have (analyzing, planning, self discipline, and detail oriented).

 

Leaves you with interesting thoughts. Give it a see!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy4oQh_Qyto

 

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Sourav

Need for a Pause during Change

You are in midst of an adrenalin pumping, emotionally involving, and intellectually stimulating change period.

How should you respond to brief sub-periods of inactivity or pause during such times? Rather, should you be actively keeping aside such ‘pause times’ during change periods?

I contend you should keep aside such ‘pause times’.

It helps you re-calibrate, re-prioritize, re-focus, and re-energize yourself.

Now let me take this a step further. Should this only be at individual level or should you be extending this to teams/groups too?

I think teams/groups also need to find a space for ‘pausing’ and re-energizing themselves. Just having a bit of fun might provide a good outlet for anxiety involved in process.

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Sourav

HR Business Partnership

We talk a lot about HR being a strategic partner to the business. But what are bedrocks that enable you to become a valuable partner?

Here are my experiences:

1)      Trust –business leaders and leadership team and you need to have a ‘trusting partnership’. You can start partnership with a default ‘trust’ status and then build on it through interactions and through early successes/joint work.

2)      Business understanding – if you have a understanding of business strategies, goals, challenges – and you are plugged into business rhythms – then you are perceived as ‘in boat’ with them. I am not asking you to become a ‘native’ – you are a partner and should have sufficient space to disagree or bring in your neutral perspective when required. But as old saying goes ‘To change the system, you gotta be in the system’.

3)      Networks – you should have a working relationship with important stakeholders in and outside business. This overlaps with trust angle but has its own space too. This is more to do with your ability to influence eco-system to get the work done.

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Sourav

Who am I?

-          is a very pertinent question!

We strive to define our ‘identity’.  Our experiences, our aspirations, those around us, ecosystem we live in – all contribute to our definition of ‘our identity’.

Identity is a ‘who’ question. Downstream it impacts ‘why’ question (our values), and behavior implications (how, what, and when).

Defining our identity can be empowering, but in certain conditions limiting.  I experience and sometimes observe a tendency to delve into our past and look at our present to define ‘our identity’. While that brings about understanding, it also runs risk of bringing about rationalization and a resistance to change.

For us to create a future which we desire, we need to give up somethings of our past.

So ensure that you are factoring in enough of your aspirations into your identity.

That will make for a more complete and possibly satisfying answer to question ‘Who am I?’

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Sourav

Communities at Work

What is place at work for communities? 

 

With our workplaces becoming more ‘virtual’ and ‘spread out’, there’s a fair chance that those with similar skills/specialties may not have opportunity to be co-located and or meet frequently.

 

Communities can be an effective way to ensure that these common interest/skill/specialty groups work towards a common goal.

 

There are a few principles that might help in ensuring an effective community:

·       Community needs to shape, drive, and own its agenda.  Hence it is important that most of the planning and execution is done by team/sub-team members.

·       Community will have need for resources, organization champions, and/or alignment with work in organization. It helps if community has sponsorship of a senior leader.

·       Way community functions is more in realm of group functioning than of subject matter knowledge. Having a HR partner who can provide a SME perspective on group functioning can help.

·       The scope of work needs to be relevant for individual team members. Outcomes of work should be something which team members can implement in some form or the other when they go back to their day jobs.

What’s been your experience with effective communities?

 

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Sourav