"What Skills Do You Not Have, Yet?"
Transparency in a Changing World
Imagine these questions about your skills, asked in an interview, team meeting, connecting with colleagues or other business interactions:
Question 1: What are your competencies? Share your skills and confidence?
That one is easy. Take a deep breath and communicate your skills. Without arrogance, express your competencies.
Question 2: What are some areas where you don’t have the competencies or skills? Or, where is your confidence lower?
This one is difficult and can be a trap in some hiring or collaboration interactions:
If someone admits that a skill, such as financial analysis, working with a new technology platform or supervising remote workers is not a competency, how will it be viewed?
Will the other party view it is honesty and authenticity?
Does it frame up an area for development and learning?
Might it be a way to restructure a role or process - to delegate that specific task to another person with the needed skills?
This dilemma has been evident is several hiring meetings. The group was impressed with a candidate, until they brought up a skill area that was not their strength or competency. In a few instances, I saw the tide turn against a high caliber candidate who honestly shared an area of low competence. Sadly, the hiring board was looking for a 100% ready to do the job, competence. And, authentic admission of an area outside their current skill level had toxic implications.
As Learning Professionals, we must adjust our view of skills, competencies and readiness. Every week, the skills of individuals change (up or down), as new situations arise, systems change and their own experiences evolve.
On a personal and professional level, I try to frame my current skills and non-skills as a changing and dynamic dashboard for myself:
Elliott’s Current Skills! (eg. UX Learning Models)
Elliott’s Current Non-Skills! (eg. Advanced Accounting)
Elliott’s Current Skills in Learning Process! (eg. AI Augmented Design)
The rate of change in our workplaces, marketplaces, technologies, employment roles and more will keep changing and evolving rapidly in the time ahead.
Learning is optimized when employees can share the landscape of their current skills and non-skills - as well as topics on their active learning plate.
Yours in learning,
Elliott Masie
MASIE Learning Foundation
MASIE Learning Collaborative
PS: There are now just six spaces open in the upcoming AI & Learning LAB in Saratoga Springs on May 17 and 18. Info: http://www.masie.com