Developing new processes
Sometimes work in a Company identifies a
developmental need where no obvious solutions exist. In these cases a way forward
is to work with the organisation to discover a way to meet the need by working
from first principles.
An
example of the approach follows
A company was growing very fast and demands on
its engineers were increasing. The age profile showed large numbers of
trained, but not very experienced, engineers. There were small numbers of
highly experienced engineers but none in the middle. The company's customers
required the skills, competence and confidence of experienced engineers now.
The problem was "How to transfer
experience from the experienced to the less experienced?".
By thinking about what experience was and
trying out experience
transfer ourselves we developed an approach that worked well. We concluded
that people contacted their experience through a limited set of key ideas. A
less experienced person has an incomplete or partially erroneous set of these
ideas. If that person could receive, with understanding and context, the key
ideas of the more experienced then this would speed up their gaining of useful
experience
This approach required high trust and
connection between the parties, lots of time, excellent communication skills
and a culture that supported the process.
Accelerating Learning
I have published some work on accelerating
learning. This helps people (re)‑experience and recover the positive
attitudes, atmosphere and processes that children and early learners use. The
methods are effective but need a full trial.