Safe practice

A common mistake is to send someone to a class, then throw them right into using the information.

Makes sense, right? Just-in-time training!

The problem is that there may be entirely too much pressure on proper execution on the first try. You may not want million-dollar decisions relying on a newbie’s skill without some kind of safety net.

There are many ways to help people get some practice before they’re truly ready for the big time. That’s what job progression paths can be good for, especially when they’re thoughtfully designed to build up the required breadth and depth of real-world experience.

That’s often what I provide for my coaching clients. I give them a safe space to talk through difficult situations, before they have to go out and do it for real. Or a safe space to analyze what’s happened in the past, to build up confidence and learn from experience.

Yes, it’s all just conversation, but most of the time that’s even better because we can quickly explore alternatives. It’s much easier – and safer – than if we had to actually DO each course of action to see what might happen.

Other approaches which work very well are to provide a mentor for someone new to their role, preferably someone outside their reporting chain who can support a safe conversation. Or systemic checks and balances, like having someone in Finance reviewing the financial decisions.

Still give the person the ability to make their decisions, but have some guardrails around not making dumb mistakes due to inexperience.

When done well, this rapidly increases the development of new skills and organizational growth.