Progress over Perfection: Competent(ish)
There are some things that scare the crap out of me. At the top of my list is not feeling ready, yet I have to go out there and do it anyway. (I have dreams about showing up to a test without having studied—you get the point.) The reality is there is some basis for the fear. For one thing, we have all seen “that person” who has Dunning Kruger’d the stuffing out of a topic. You know those people who are wrong and strong? They are talking and they are so, so, so, so wrong and they are embarrassingly confident and it is my absolute nightmare to be that person.
That said, I also know most of the time I’m probably more ready than I think I am to start something new. So how do I jump onto a new project, assignment or learning curve and straddle that tightrope of doing well and not being a dummy, while being terrified? Here’s some things that have served me well.
First, get comfortable with what you can and can’t do. Keep in mind you probably don’t even know what you don’t know. One question to start asking is “what does good look like?” When I was in consulting years ago, I had to jump onto a new project with an existing team when the project manager on the account left the company. I had my bag of tricks. Yet I owned that I was totally in the dark about how the team worked and the important practices and preferences of the client. I needed to be comfortable with being new to the team and the client. That said, I still had things I could do. Most important was demonstrating that I could be depended on. I would find things large and small, say I would do them—and then do them.
Take it one step at a time. There is always a huge list of things which need to get done. And let’s be clear, when you’re in that “ish” phase, it’s harder to get small tasks done because you’re learning and lifting as you go. Be clear on the priorities. Do whatever you can to get smart about what’s critical, then start to climb the hill.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If someone comes to you with a problem, aren’t you happy to help? We are wired to be collaborative and helpful. The key is to make it frictionless. Be concise and clear on your ask.
What is the context?
What is the challenge?
How can this person help?
What do you need?
Then circle back and tell them how what they did impacted you. The other benefit of asking questions is you can shine a light on things that can and should be improved. You take 13 steps with 3 shadow reporting systems to do this activity. Why? Can we streamline? New people can often surface the madness we all are too busy to notice or fix.
Preparation is everything. Stay one step ahead of the bear chasing you. Be clear on what is immediately important, and then dig in and prepare, learn and practice. I don’t like to wing it, so I try to understand expectations up front. This sounds obvious but in practice it’s tricky.
The reality is our greatest learning at work is by getting thrown into a new project, role or challenge — not through training or mentoring or a video. This can feel unsettling. Not overselling your expertise, taking small steps to move towards your goal, asking for help and then investing the time to practice and improve are all critical to moving from “ish” to competency. Good luck on that climb, and remember to be kind to people on their own “ish” assignments.
