Adaptable by design
Adam Bryant recently asked veteran CHRO Simon Linares, “What are the X-factors that separate the truly high-potentials from everybody else?”
Linares said,
“We did a bit of research on the graduates of our three-year-program for people just out of university. […]
“There were two things they all had in common. One was that when the requirements and expectations of them changed, they could adapt really quickly to it. They didn’t sit and whine. They didn’t struggle with it. They went, ‘Okay, that’s what we now need to do,’ and they could deal with ambiguity and change really quickly. The second thing was they had the widest range of network of relationships, well beyond their job, so they knew how to build relationships and collaborate.”
I’ve told the story about “Jim,” who wanted Malvern Prep to support his pursuit of a master’s degree in Classics, when what we needed was someone who would create a cutting edge program in Classics.
But there is another story—a different story—from the same time frame, about Kevin, who made a similar request. Kevin was a less experienced but high potential teacher. I told him that I would approve his request if first he agreed to spend a year doing a “Development by Design” program. We would pay him a stipend to design and deliver some special projects to advance our vision. He agreed, excelled on the projects, joined an early cohort of Penn’s Educational Entrepreneurship program, and co-founded Malvern’s social entrepreneurship program—all within 2 years.
In our COVID-19 age:
Adaptability is more important than ever. As Adam Bryant puts it, adaptability is an X-factor for high potentials who will have a disproportionate impact on your organization’s success.
We learn to adapt by practicing adaptability. So we should design situations in which high potentials have to do something they’ve never done before, reflecting on what worked and what didn’t, then adapting from there.
Are you creating situations that allow your people to practice adapting?
If not, how are they getting their reps in?
***
Thank you for reading this post from Basecamp's blog, Ed:Future. Do you know someone who would find the Ed:Future blog worthwhile reading? Please let them know that they can subscribe here.