Our Approach Keys To Successful Skills Development
Developing new skills can be a difficult task for a number of reasons:
Trying out new behaviors is inherently anxiety provoking and the familiar is comfortable
With the focus on the behavior, little or no attention is paid to othe cognitive component (e.g., our mindset, our internal dialogue, etc.) despite extensive research documenting the influence of thoughts on behavior
We lose patience, even though the skills development literature indicates that most significant improvements don't occur until the 3, 6, and 12 month marks
Assistance is often in limited supply and asking for help can be intimidating
Individuals are asked to change while other system components (organizational processes, management practices, etc.) remain the same
Because of its complexity and difficulty, successful skills development requires attention to several inter-related components. Omitting or downplaying any of these components will negatively impact the results that can be realized:
What's in it for you
Clearly understanding what behavior to change and why
Focusing on the influence of thoughts on behavior
Having a specified action plan for how to change
Identifying the resources and processes needed to promote change
Establishing ongoing feedback mechanisms that highlight progress to date and point to areas in need of further attention
It is important to note that to achieve your final goal may require incremental development of skills, knowledge, and processes. For instance, the ability to successfully negotiate the steps in a sales cycle requires good communication and negotiation skills as well as an understanding of what steps are typically required to produce a buying decision. Often a foundation of underlying processes and skills must be established before you can successfully implement higher order processes.
We have seen many organizations and individuals, anxious to get to peak performance, prematurely attempt to establish higher level processes. Despite the best of intentions, the project is then bound for failure or limited success before it has even begun. That is why we emphasize assessments and use a developmental approach in ceating and implementing performance improvement programs - be they skills development or process enhancement programs, or some combination of the two.

BACK TO TOP