The power of not yet, rather than not ever

My daughter had just auditioned for WAYO, an outcome that seemed unlikely/impossible in year 4 when her then-music teacher declared her devoid of musical talent.

A change of schools brought a different approach – those who had raw talent were acknowledged and celebrated, but equally, participation for the joy of it was encouraged. Rather than “come and join us if you’re good enough”, it was “come and join us, have fun and get better along the way”.

And so my daughter went from making up the numbers, to being a solid performer to eventually playing multiple instruments in different bands, chorales and ensembles.

Along the way there’s probably been 200 or so performances at different events. Those performances were excruciating to begin with, particularly as a parent listening on. But they built confidence, experience, the opportunity to grow, the opportunity to experience failure when the stakes were very low, and to know what to do with that failure.

Fast forward to an audition that seemed unlikely so many years ago; but that was made possible by hard work, a school that believed in her and a system that enabled development, growth and the opportunity to fail safely.

Nice story – how does this apply to the workplace?

There’s a strong parallel with growth in the workplace. The organisations I know who are doing this well enable employees to have opportunities to grow, to stretch, to develop, to make mistakes within safe guardrails. They’re not just employing fully formed employees ready to work at 100% capability, they’re growing existing employees into roles.

In an environment where talent matters and good talent is hard to find, it makes sense to create a workforce that’s not just about the ready made superstars but those that are prepared to put in the work to grow and develop.

I worked with one organisation where a less experienced employee micro-stepped from: I’m going to ask a question in a meeting, to I’m going to ask to present on an issue, to I’m going to chair the meeting and so on.. each step thought about in advance to enable the employee to grow and develop.

Many of these activities cost little other than the time to think about the micro steps and the support to give feedback on how that step went and what the gap is for the next step.

Of course this doesn’t mean making your employees sit through hundreds of excruciating performances, but perhaps thinking about how can you create mini opportunities for stretch? What micro steps are there in your workplace?

The Takeaway

• Feedback is a gift – but not one you always need to accept in its entirety per Sally Pedlow.
• Sometimes it is you. Sometimes it’s the environment. Swap the environment for a better result.
• Hard work and tenacity are usually required for sustainable success, whether there’s a starting point of raw talent or not.
• Sometimes the answer is not yet rather than not ever. It’s important to know the difference.