Many random things stick in my mind, generally because they were funny, defining or insightful at the time. (Sometimes all three.) To choose a random smattering of the former (which will mean nothing to others but sound as though there is a story there), I’ll nominate Big Bill who worked with animals, Pickaxe Pete the rescuer, Bjorn the Gambling Adviser and finally Derek Walters and his burst hot water bottle.

When it comes to insightful, I have been on many training courses over the years, some (but not all) which stick in my mind. One regular trainer was a Chap called Nigel Elsby who combined charm and hubris to great effect. If someone said his name to me, I would immediately picture him saying his Strapline when Genuflecting. (Not actually spectacles, testicles, wallet & watch, but something more like right pec, left pec, right of belly button, left of belly button). He did this for one simple reason- we would remember it and I do indeed. This was his definition of management:

Achieving results through people

Simple huh? This is Team Management of course, not Product Management, but getting things done well was getting the balance right in the three factors of team task, team performance and individual performance.

Another one that pops up when it comes to achieving personal effectiveness in anything is this diagram, which I have called the new skills circle. (There are plenty similar ones around but not obviously public domain so I knocked one up in PowerPoint. It is a bit rough, but the principle holds). I first came across this at Cranfield.

It is a simple two axis graph, with ability from left to right and awareness from bottom to top .

To make the explanation resonate with most people, I’ll choose learning to drive. Here are the four steps:

1. You are sixteen, you are looking forward to getting your provisional license and book your test. It can’t be hard- your Dad can do it and he is pretty ignorant. You really don’t appreciate your complete lack of ability yet.
2. Your first lessons- all that stress of working the controls together whilst being expected to look where you’re going as well! A bitter reality pill.
3. You get to an acceptable standard after a lot of hard work. You are a fair driver now but need to concentrate totally on the task of driving well.
4. You have hundreds of thousands of miles experience now and driving is second nature to you. Your control is smooth, your awareness is high and you can sing along to the radio or carry out conversations without discomfort. You are almost driving on auto-pilot where you become immediately aware of anything out of the ordinary in order to give your full attention to it.
5. There isn’t a stage five, until you want to expand your horizons. Go and do a defensive driving course or an IAM assessment. Suddenly you are back at stage one again where you think they won’t find anything to complain about!

Life is like this, numerous overlapping skills at different points of the cycle. Sometimes it is a small circle, sometimes an irregularly shaped polygon as you struggle with a challenge.

If the curve though this diagram is a clock face, where do you rate your blogging?

I put myself at 2pm so I’m reasonably competent but very conscious of having to think about it. But blogging is like peeling an onion; things you didn’t appreciate keep showing up underneath the next layer.

(Title Credit- Shrek the Ogre used the Onion analogy before me.)