Do you ever want to bounce ideas off someone else? Or learn the way they approach a particular problem? I'm not talking about anyone's specific capabilities. Instead, we can enhance our abilities by working with someone else. That brings its problem: How do you choose that learning partner?
I've worked with several partners as a manager and consultant. I chose those people purposefully because I've had terrific and iffy experiences. Here are some of my management-focused experiences.
Management Learning Partners
I've used learning partnerships in several organizations when I was a manager:
- When we needed all new Engineering job descriptions and levels, I partnered with Gladys, one person from HR. Gladys knew all boundaries around job descriptions. I understood the kinds of things we wanted people to do—and not to do. We started from a position of equal and different knowledge.
- A different Engineering organization needed to define its project approach, its lifecycle. The Engineering VP wanted to specify it for us. Instead, several of us directors grabbed that definition work and said, “We'll be back to you in a month or so.” We all had an organizational perspective so that we could do a good job. This criterion was about agreeing to an overarching goal. That goal allowed us to see the big picture and how the smaller details fit.
- During that lifecycle discussion, one of the directors, Peter, insisted we define and then use a phase-gate approach. (A serial lifecycle, similar to a waterfall approach.) The other four of us said, “That's not how we work now. Why would we choose that approach?” He kept talking about “best practices” and other such nonsense. We asked him to leave our working team. He did, and we succeeded.
Those experiences helped shape my learning partnership criteria.
My Learning Partnership Criteria
I have criteria for each person I choose to learn with:
- They bring something unique to the work. We might overlap with some knowledge, but each person has something we can use to create a better outcome.
- We each agree on the overarching goal. And we're willing to learn together, to refine that goal and the work. All because we might learn as we finish the work.
- We respect the other(s) for their point of view.
- We have fun together.
Given those criteria, you can choose internal colleagues as learning partners.
Choose an External Colleague as a Learning Partner
Very few managers inside organizations can choose colleagues outside the organization as a learning partner. (Unless you choose a consultant.)
However, consultants have much more leeway to choose a fellow consultant to learn together.
One of my long-standing collaborators—aka learning partner—is Gil Broza. I've worked with Gil because he works to create a more collaborative leadership culture. I particularly like one of his newsletters: Who Makes Decisions Around Here? (You can use that page to sign up for his newsletter, too.)
Gil and I have designed and delivered several workshops together. Because we started the partnership as equals, selected an overarching goal, and respected each other, we succeeded. And we laughed a lot while we designed and then delivered the workshops.
Learning Partners Can Make the Work Better and More Fun
When we work with another person, we can gain several benefits. The first is that we create a better work product. The second is that the other person often has a different perspective. We can use our diverse expertise to create something better than either of us could alone.
And if we can have more fun doing it—that's the icing on the cake.
This newsletter touches on topics in Become a Successful Independent Consultant and all three of the Modern Management Made Easy books. Yes, effective leaders create learning opportunities that permeate the organization.
Learn with Johanna
I published what I hope is the almost-final version of Become a Successful Independent Consultant. My layout person has the book now, and my cover person is working on a cover. Phew!
I also opened the Q2 Writing Workshop for registration.
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- Managing Product Development Blog.
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© 2023 Johanna Rothman
Pragmatic Manager: Vol 20, #3, ISSN: 2164-1196