Learning Masterful Practice III: Self As Instrument

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”

                                                                      Mahatma Gandhi

In preparing for adaptability, I discussed the use of the situation and the use of theory and experience… the importance of having a ready repertoire of principles and frames for use in interpretation and action selection. This, however, raises the importance of our use of self in professional work, since it’s predicated on what we can take in and process; and what we can then do! What we see and hear depends on who we are and what we are emotionally and competently prepared to do also depend on who we are.

So, we next need to learn what can interfere with, or conversely, what enhances our use of self as an instrument of our professional work: (1) taking in what’s going on in the situation (interpreting; giving meaning); (2) deciding (what is applicable; what action is called for); and (3) taking action (saying or doing something or nothing). This is most critical and most difficult. In essence, we need to be highly self-aware and in continuous understanding of ourselves (strengths, limitations, feelings, blocks, triggers, use of senses, fears, anxieties, etc.) and how well we are operating. In part this is learned by practice, but not just repetition. It requires critical reflection ((Raelin, J. A. (2007). “Toward An Epistemology of Practice”. Academy of Management Learning & Education Journal. Vol 6, No 4, pp. 495-519)) on what we do, how it works against some standard or vision of what’s desired, learning from mistakes and re-calibrating our principles and frames to incorporate new learning.

There is an accumulated repertoire of tacit knowledge that includes not only what and how (content and process), but also what it looks like, feels like or sounds like. Learning uses all the senses. And tacit knowledge grows through all of them. There are kinesthetic, emotional and cognitive components that go into masterful practice. Did you ever watch an experienced auto mechanic diagnose an engine? I believe the same is true for professionals working in human systems. So part of the learning involves creating greater consciousness of one’s tacit knowledge and organizing it in such a way as to make it more accessible for use.

Self development is multi-dimensional, involving cognitive, physical and emotional components. For the “self”, like an instrument, we need to improve our capacity, functionality, calibration and tuning.  So we develop skill sets, knowledge bases, EI, SI and physical health, in order to operate as masterful practitioners who can take in and let out what’s needed.

Great minds in OD have long emphasized the importance of “self” in helping roles. When talking about self as instrument, Bob Tannenbaum ((Tannebaum, R. (2000). “My professional guidelines” Consulting Today. Vol. 4, No. 3 (August)) used to describe it through the concepts of social sensitivity (accurately reading the environment) and action flexibility (having the capacity to act in different ways as appropriate to the situation). Charlie Seashore has long emphasized the linking of self-awareness, perceptions, choices and actions and the roles of self-efficacy and agency in creating more conscious, intentional and deliberate choices to act on ((Seashore, C., Shawver, M., Thompson, G. and Mattare, M. (2004). “Doing Good By Knowing Who You Are: The Instrumental Self as an Agent of Change”. OD Practitioner, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 42-46)). In the late eighties, whenever Dick Beckhard came to teach at Pepperdine, he always made the point of highlighting how important it is in consulting to know yourself in order to distinguish between “your stuff and their stuff”.

We can only “do” what we can see, understand and act on. That involves our conscious self and shadow self perceiving, interpreting and behaving. And it involves what we know and have competencies to do. How well have you equipped and tuned your “self as instrument”?

Continuing food for thought ….until next time.

[tags]Dave Jamieson, masterful practice, self-awareness, critical reflection, use of self, self as instrument, tacit knowledge, Bob Tannenbaum, Charlie Seashore, Dick Beckhard, envisia learning[/tags]

David Jamieson

Dr. Jamieson is President of the Jamieson Consulting Group, Inc., an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Science in Organization Development Programs at Pepperdine University and American University/NTL and a Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Benedictine’s Ph. D. in OD Program. He has over 38 years of experience consulting to organizations on leadership, change, strategy, design and human resource issues. He is a Past National President of the American Society for Training and Development (1984) and Past Chair of the Management Consultation Division and Practice Theme Committee of the Academy of Management. Dave is co-author of Managing Workforce 2000: Gaining the Diversity Advantage (Jossey-Bass, 1991) and co-author of The Facilitator’s Fieldbook, 2nd Edition (AMACOM, 2006). He serves as Editor of Practicing OD, an OD Netwok on-line journal; Editor, Reflections on Experience Section of the Journal of Management Inquiry and on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Organization Change Management and The Organization Development Practitioner. Contact information: david.jamieson@pepperdine.edu; 2355 Westwood Blvd., Ste 420, LA, CA. 90064; (310)-397-8502.