All teams want to be good at what they do, but only some are.
Part of the reason is impatience. No time to coach. Just get it done.
Learning doesn’t have to be difficult but it can be slow.
Also it’s easier to stop than to start. You might get distracted, or just have other priorities.
Learning in a team is difficult – so it doesn’t happen by chance. It happens when you control outcomes rather than they control you.
As a smart leader you can control outcomes by giving your team control, guiding and adjusting not controlling. You do that by choice not by accident. You choose Learning.
You choose Knowledge over Fear.
Knowledge gives the team more choices. Fear takes away choices.
Building knowledge is slow. Fear is immediate.
Unfortunately learning can just be a slogan. Like other virtues it can become something you just talk about but don’t do. Whether you believe in it or not.
Talk and action aren’t the same thing.
Immediate can win over slow.
For some in bigger organisations, HR or dedicated L&D departments are tasked to provide learning strategy & delivery. Their expertise can be valuable, but only if it’s integrated with and supported by team leaders.
Outside support is never enough.
Learning in your team is your responsibility.
Knowledge, or it’s opponent Fear, are choices not accidents. What a team learns is not determined by their training budget but by the culture in the team. Set by you as leader.
You choose.
When you choose knowledge the team knows, because you give them control.
A learning team talks about results. They talk about successes, not just celebrate & move on. They talk about mistakes to understand what can be learned. Not how they can hide them.
A learning team does this with or without the leader. They’re open to new ideas and stretch boundaries at work because that’s how their leaders behave.
Not just in meetings. Always.
At a pace set by the leader. By you.
By whether you act that way outside work and in your own work.
“..What a team learns is not determined by their training budget but by the culture in the team…”
If your team isn’t learning it’s your problem to solve. It could be you’re not making the right choices.
Fear of different opinions is a choice. Fear of leaving your lane is a choice. Leaders who choose fear limit how smart their teams become.
Do you want your team to be better at what they do?
Do you want them to be better than you?
What part of your weekly meetings or routines are used as opportunities to learn?
How much learning do team members do on their own, or in their own groups?
Is Learning your job, or someone else’s?
How often do you seek to shape formal training provided for your team, or do you leave it to others?
Do you know enough about their job to teach them something?
How often do you directly instruct details for your team to follow?
How do you react to mistakes? How do you react to innovative solutions?
How often does your team talk openly about their own mistakes?
What are they learning?
.
.
“I might be wrong, but at least I’ve thought about it…”