McKinsey just published an article that asks a tough question, “Do your training efforts drive performance?” It’s a tough question because many of the executives that McKinsey surveyed don’t know the answer. As the article puts it:
“Building organizational capabilities is a top strategic priority, but an inability to measure the impact is a growing concern among executives we surveyed.”
That’s fascinating, but measuring the impact of training is like measuring profit. It’s important, but it’s in the past. If you’re looking to the future, what you want is a lot of leaders who are able to learn quickly. That’s what GE CEO Jeff Immelt says, and he should know.
“I’ve always thought that success on the job is based on how fast you learn and not what you know.”
The big question is: How can we develop leaders who are fast learners?
Leadership development as natural selection
Part of this is easy. By the time you’re looking at the candidates for top executive positions, the dullards have already fallen by the wayside. You’re left with bright people, but that only tells you that they have the mental capacity to learn quickly.
Learning fast is a core skill to develop
You can teach some of the skills a person needs in order to learn quickly. But you’ve got to let folks loose in the wild and see what they do when they’re dropped into a new and unfamiliar situation.
Some will return to the tried and true. That will work just enough times to be dangerous.
Others will be paralyzed, like deer in the headlights. They’ll hope that someone will show up with the answer while they rummage through old class notes looking for inspiration.
Then there’s a third group. They will start asking questions and listening hard to the answers. They will start trying things to see what works. Those are the people you want to promote.
