24 July 2011

Competency #4 -- Encourage Innovation and Learning

Please see "Succession Planning from the Middle Up!" (above) for the context of Competency #3.

Uh-oh...here's a competency that might involve some risk-taking. If you work for an organization whose mantra is "We've never done it that way before..." then you might be in for an uphill climb to encourage innovation and learning. But it's not impossible!

Some middle managers (MMs) I know have encouraged direct reports to get more education in their field by getting more education themselves (the MMs, that is). They go to night school (sounds so old-fashioned these days, doesn't it?), they sign up for distance learning certifications, they attend workshops and seminars. Plus--good MMs know company policy on education reimbursement so that they and their direct reports can take advantage of it.

I know some other MMs that actually encourage trying new things and learning from what doesn't work! Or even learning from mistakes what would make a process better. How about you? 


How do you facilitate this competency in your world? How have you been able to create a learning environment--maybe without support from the top--or haven't you been able to create it yet? What best practice or success story could you share about this?

Please click on "Comments" below to share. Thank you for your thoughts!

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Thanks for helping blaze the trail!