As a 16 year old, sitting in a Driver’s Education class, I thought my instructor had to be the worst driver ever. Every day he had a new story about a close call or some other dangerous driving situation that he had survived.
These were all personal stories that seemed to only suggest that he should take a cab before getting behind the wheel. Years later, I know that he was probably a good driver.
What changed? I was still learning that driving is often less about what you do but how you react to other people. The driver who runs red lights, the one who changes lanes without signaling, and the person who believes the freeway is a good place for texting are all variables you must deal with on a daily basis.
Thanks to years on the road (and perhaps living in South Florida) I now have that perspective. Anyone can drive well on empty streets. The challenge comes when other people are involved.
In your business, is there a gap between knowledge and experience? Do the experienced members of your team help the newcomers get up to speed? It’s a great way to Clear the Path to higher productivity.
You may have spent a lot of time training your new team members in the memorization of policies. But I’m sure you’ll agree that learning customer service or sales skills is different than applying those skills to a potential customer. The customer can be unpredictable, making scripted solutions, from a manual, hard to apply. You don’t learn how to drive by being a back seat driver.
The sharing of knowledge can be a matter of life and death. Early military pilots had a great deal of difficulty in ariel dogfights when the sun would suddenly blind them. It was a moment that left you extremely vulnerable to the enemy.
One day a pilot realized that by putting up a finger, he could block out the sun. It was a simple decision, that once shared with others, helped save countless lives.
Create a process where experiences are shared with all. Otherwise you’ll constantly be paying for people’s learning curves.
