Get Better at Getting Better

by Chandramouli Venkatesan

In Chapter 5, we covered reflection as a way of improving our capabilities. The question was ‘why could I not get a better outcome in the first place?’ and the answers to that question would be capability issues, which prevented you from getting that better outcome. Identifying the pattern of capability issues that surface in your reflections is a good way of assessing how good your GBM is.

If the same capability issues keep coming up repeatedly in your reflections over a substantial period, it is reflective of a poor GBM, an inability to get better by fixing those capability issues.

Indicator Good GBM Poor GBM Default tendency Looks for method of finding the answer; cognitive thinking dominates Looks for answers; impulse dominates Pattern of capability issues in reflection Old issues go away and new ones surface Same issues keep coming up again and again Job interviews Answers questions easily, even if they are about different domains or situations Cannot answer questions about new domains or new situations Effectiveness in a new domain Easily effective without much teething trouble Finds it very difficult to get going in a new domain Team quality High-quality team with high-GBM team members Low-GBM team members, often experienced but not getting better rapidly

What is measured improves. That is true for our get-better journey also. Unfortunately, we do not effectively measure getting better at work. We have measurement tools for the results we produce, but not for how much better we got producing those results and the quality of our GBM. The five indicators for assessing the GBM quality by yourself are: Assess if your default tendency is to go to the answer, or to go to the method of finding the answer. Identify the pattern of capability issues being thrown up by your reflections and see if the issues remain constant for a long time, which means you are not getting better. Leveraging external evaluations like appraisals and interviews. Do not focus only on the results they produce, but also on the get-better feedback you get. When you change domains, see if you struggle or fly in the new domain. That is the best indicator of your current GBM quality. If you attract high-quality teams, you have a good GBM, and vice versa. Rate yourself on a scale of 0–5 on the indicators. Reassess yourself every three months till you reach 5. If you have a poor GBM, you can fix it only if you know about it and are honest about it. Show the determination to change your GBM if it is poor. It can be done.

Success = Effort x Getting Better

Sometimes, working harder can get you better results, but that won’t help improve future results. When you get better, however, it improves not only your current results but also your future results.

The best way to find out what you need to get better at, given your context, is by disciplined practice of review and reflection for a while.

Effort is the fuel of success. Getting better is the method to that success.