One of the most popular topics on my blog over the past year has been creating a development plan. So, I want to share with you a new approach to development planning that I have created.
I have realized that there are several reasons why development plans are so vexing for people:
1) “Development needs” tend to be identified in terms of personal competencies; qualities of the individual to be improved or leveraged. They ultimately involve descriptions individual skills, abilities, characteristics, orientations, outlooks, mindsets…or whatever other term you want to use.
2) The most easily identified and packaged solutions for “development needs” are training programs. If you have a need to improve on communications skills, take a communications class. Problem solved. But these solutions are very limited. They don’t address the important development needs of high potential employees. So, you are going to put him or her into the company’s leadership development program. That is great, but will it really help them to make a larger contribution to the organization? To be more effective on a larger playing field? Probably not.
3) Real development comes from having experiences. But, we don’t know how to identify the right experiences for a given individual, and we are hard pressed to explain why we think a given experience is the right one in the first place. When asked to describe why a particular experience will be useful, it is hard to get people to go beyond “It will just be a great experience–they will learn so much, and see different parts of the company, etc…” The point is, we don’t have a simple method of unpacking the learning potential in potential developmental assignments. And, if we don’t really understand the key lessons we want an experience to teach a person, why would expect them to?
So, I have developed a process for creating what some have described as an “experience-based development plan on steroids”–a robust process that guides the individual through a thought process that yields an insightful development plan. The basic steps, which are supported in the FrameBreaking Leadership Development Workshop with a mixture of online and print tools and exercises, goes like this:
1) Clarify your long-term career aspirations. While this can be a tough step for some, it’s an important that one’s development plan is put into a larger, career context.
2) Conduct a personal experience audit
- Types of experiences I have I had throughout my career (prior jobs)
(In the workshop, participants create their own personal LearningResume, which summarizes the experiences and learning from throughout their career.
- Types of experiences I am currently having (projects, responsibilities, etc.)
- Understand how a new opportunity would be beneficial before taking it by using an Experience Assessment tool to map the key areas of challenge and learning for you.
4) Ensure your passions are aligned with the experiences you are having and need to have to achieve your long-term career aspirations
5) Document your plan in a simple form and approach it with a Learning Mindset. Adapting a simple reflective practice that I can an “ActiveLearning Routine” can help you to keep learning top of mind once you are embroiled in an experience-based development opportunity.
If you are interested in learning more about this robust approach to experience-based development, check out the workshop description or attend a free webinar on January 18. I have just recently finished a book on this subject, and will post details once it is available for purchase.
Filed under: Creating a high-impact development plan, Experience-based development, Frame-Breaking development, Self-Development
Indeed most traditional competency approaches to developing people seem logical…in reality they have little impact on personal or organization growth. One thing I add to these great thoughts…it is helpful to identify someone who can support you on the change journey…it makes it so much easier one this kind of help is around. It can be an HR person, an internal or external coach, etc., but someone who can be direct, supportive, encouraging, and insightful.
I definitely agree! Just having another person involved in your development can make a huge difference. It helps both with providing additional perspective, and in simply following through on what you plan to do. I think it also helps to have regularly scheduled updates with such a person. Don’t wait for “important things” to happen to have a conversation about what you are learning. If you do, you will probably miss a lot of opportunities for insightful reflection and discussion.