Action Plans for becoming a Guru
Posted on August 15th, 2009 by Paul McArdle – 7 CommentsFollowing the great Business Autopsy of 2009, we identified the opportunity presented to us to restructure to better utilise people’s individual strengths.
Subsequently, I wrote more about the need for everyone to set their sights on becoming a guru in their chosen area.
We spoke about this further at last Friday’s Beer O’clock session with the outcome being that, by Friday 18th September, everyone will have:
1) Selected their own area in which to specialize, so long as it’s of relevance to the business (sorry, Shane, tap dancing might be a bridge too far).
2) Described this in details sufficient for everyone to understand what they are intending to do; and (importantly)
3) Defined how they should be held to account (and at what intervals) for their progress.
Note all this stuff will be on our internal Wiki, and not here…
What is a Guru, Anyway?
Just to clarify, in case you were anticipating to hear announcements about Nobel Prizes or such like at some stage in the future. That’s not what we’re driving at.
Our focus is on internal needs – so fully expect that some (much?) of what we learn may seem boring (or just pedestrian) to you.
Rather, this is just part of our commitment to Life-Long Learning, and will see us continue to improve (we hope) from now until Infinity arrives.
Keep track of our progress?
We envisage that, as our learning develops individually, we’ll be sharing some of this learning through posts on this blog – and working out what/how to apply what we have learnt through Beer O’clock sessions and the like.
Note that it is the individual author’s choice, however, if they want to make their posts public or not. Hence, an absence of posts you can see may just mean someone is shy, not necessarily that they are making no progress.
Hence, stay tuned for more…
[...] future, we’ll be trying to use these forums to gain an update on how everyone is progressing with their own Learning Plans (basically put together to accelerate their learning in an area they select that’s of [...]
[...] As noted previously, I have challenged all employees (and a few absent shareholders might participate, as well) to select an area of value to the company and understand (in that area) to progressively develop their capability till they reach “Guru Status”. [...]
Great idea Paul, i really like this one. This can work for every level of the business, and every person within it. What a fantastic way to engage in the role you are performing, and also to have the chance to lift your knowledge and performance in an area of interest and relevance. I’m interested at the very least to implement this in my own role, if not for our entire company. Thanks for the motivation!
Thanks for letting us know, Glenn, and glad the post is of some use.
Keep me informed with how you go in doing so, as I am very keen for us to learn from every available source!
Cheers
Paul
[...] have previously written about my requirement of employees to develop their own Guru Plans, which are really 10,000-hour projections as to how they can grow into their fullest capability in [...]
[...] Hence the absolute necessity for everyone to be committed to their Guru Plans. [...]
[...] 2 = Mastery I have previously written about my requirement for all employees to develop their own Guru Plans, which are really 10,000-hour projections as to how they can grow into their fullest capability in [...]