Notes from the Mentoring Conference call this past week

This past week, a good friend of mine, Ron Hadley, spoke on Mentoring on the PMlessonsLearned.com conference call I host.
The presentation is available at PMlessonsLearned.com (see the link for "Files and Presentations"). The recording is now available for the next few weeks by phone (for the phone number and access code for the phone recording see details on top left of PMlessonsLearned.com - It will be available until the next conference call on June 3rd) and the MP3 and other recordings will be available on-line in the next few weeks (see the link for archives on the website at PMlessonsLearned.com).

Here are my notes from the call:

• With Mentoring, go slow before you go fast
• Many people concentrate on "Who" to be mentored by before they concentrate on "What" to be mentored about. Take the time to plan the "What" first. Start with the goal in mind.
• Mentoring is a way to develop, so what are you trying to develop?
• Discuss strategies that are outside your comfort zone to be put into practice before the next meeting. This will push you to grow.
• An important value of mentoring: Mentoring builds relationships which works at the need to build "purpose at work" which builds retention of your best people.
• Start with a one year commitment, you can always keep going if it works well. This will set a goal and it isn't too long to commit to.
• Ron suggests that it's best to find someone in your company/organization but from another department. This will help you to learn to navigate your organization.
• Ron recommends that you make an agreement at the start of the mentoring.
• Types of mentoring: one on one or group mentoring. Group mentoring is starting to grow in use. The group presents and issue, brainstorms solutions and then at the meeting the following month they discuss how they handled it.
• It is best to have written goals for mentoring
• What should your mentoring work on? Try to get a 360 degree assessment. If you can't get one at work, then ask people what you should work on.
• Ron said one of the best lessons he learned from his mentor was that he was always bringing his lunch and eating alone, but the mentor told him he should never eat lunch alone. (note: I (Henry) suggest the book "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi)
• When asked what the best format is for a meeting with your mentor, Ron suggested: Review the progress of the last meeting's action items and discuss what needs to be done to move forward (discuss next steps and action items) for the next meeting. Ron suggests that mentoring meetings should be once a month and should last about 1 to 1.5 hours.
  
• Where to find a mentor? Ask at work (ask your manager first), church, and/or other organizations you belong to (PMlessonsLearned.com or your local PMI Chapter for example)
  

I hope you think about getting a mentor!

Maslow's Levels of Learning

Today I heard Duffy Robbins speak and he mentioned the 4 levels (hierarchy) of Learning.

He attributed them to Abraham Maslow because he thought that was who had published them, but he has looked around and can't find the reference.

They are:
1. Unconscious Incompetence - This is when you think you know it all, but you really just don't realize how little you know. I was like this in my teens and soon after graduating college.

2. Conscious Incompetence - this is when you realize that you have a lot to learn. I can remember being in this stage about several subjects in my life. I can remember being this way with life, with project management, and several times in my Christian walk.

3. Conscious Competence - This is when you get the "book learning." You have the knowledge, the know how, but you have to think about the steps and fundamentals in order to get the job done. I get this way with public speaking sometimes, I have to think about what I'm doing so I don't say "Ummm" all the time.

4. Unconscious Competence - This is when you can do things right without even thinking about it. It's being "in the zone." Some good examples are walking and riding a bicycle, once you learn, you don't have to think about how to do it anymore.

I hope to post a few blogs about applying this principle to other subjects. Learning has always been an important emphasis in my life, so I can think of lots of ways to apply these 4 levels.

Stay tuned...

update 2013-05-06 I just found this article on Wikipedia about "Four stages of competence" that makes a note about who this should be attributed to.

update 2013-07-31 I found this slide presentation about learning yesterday. It's for a different application in healthcare, but still applies. It talks about how to create tension in the "learning ladder" on slides 38-42 and 46-49 are helpful.

Update 2013-08-19 The related idea of creating tension for change is represented well in a few of the slides in the above presentation. Slide 39 is of note since it shows that too much tension can cause "shut down." I've seen this occur several times before when a project team is overwhelmed by a difficult environment. I've also found a few other sites that talk about tension for change: 

• Changing Minds explains the Tension Principle
• The Tension Management Institute talks about Tension Management and the "ChangeGridTM" (A trademark of theirs)
• Productive Flourishing provides "A User’s Guide To Creative Tension"
• "Why Good Leaders Create Healthy Tension" - An interview (follow links to the replay) on Keith Ferrazzi's "My Greenlight" with Jeff Hayzlett, bestselling author of "The Mirror Effect" and "Running the Gauntlet: Essential Business Lessons to Lead, Drive Change, and Grow Profits." Jeff is also known for his past leadership at Kodak and for his appearance on Trump's Apprentice.