Life Competencies: can you develop the abilities you need?

If you have been to business school, what did you study? Was it business subjects like finance, operations management, marketing, organisational behaviour and economics? But what about the other sets of skills or abilities which are needed in business, whether you are an employee or/and employer, and are helpful also in many other aspects of life? Are we aware of them and are we encouraged and assisted to acquire them?

For an example take the process of addressing a problem – especially one which is new, unexpected and/or complicated. A simple problem may have an obvious answer but many problems need more analysis. Also often what we are presented with usually are some of the symptoms of a problem and our instinctive reaction then may be to address the symptoms instead of first trying to understand the problem.

Then what are the key issues that need to be recognised in looking for a solution – and what are the options available? There is a temptation to move as quickly as possible to the first apparent solution or, if no solution is at first seen, to think that with the application of enough brainpower we can work out what is happening and so determine what to do.

As Voltaire is reputed to have said: “No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking”. Therefore we try to think it through or ask supposed experts (for instance, in business, consultants, market researchers and economists) for the answer – but then there can be a tendency to look for yet more information to be sure and consequently we succumb to ‘analysis paralysis’.

But, if we then find a number of seemingly possible options, how do we choose between them? Or, if we are not sure if any of them would work, what should we do – do we know how to experiment? And, if we do make a decision, how do we implement it, especially if it requires coordinated work by several different people or teams.

So, to be competent in that situation, do we need a collection of abilities – such as?

Acceptance of Uncertainty.  The future is uncertain (not least because it is not fixed and unexpected things happen to change it) – and market research can be untrustworthy because in reality people often do not behave as they think they will. Many things are uncertain and no amount of thinking and analysis will accurately predict then – so we need to expect uncertainty and learn how to deal with and even benefit from it.

Problem analysis.  We need the skills of problem identification and analysis – and the ability to find an appropriate middle path between rushing to a solution and getting stuck in too much analysis.

Appropriate action.  Do we understand the difference between ready-aim-fire and ready-fire-aim. The former is appropriate when firing a rifle because, once the trigger is pulled, the firer has no further control over the bullet – whereas the latter is often better in life. It is like a guided missile when we get it ready and get it going and then, once underway, the venture can be steered to track a moving target.

Trial and Error.  Often it can be quicker, and cheaper, to have a go and learn from that rather than to continue to think and ponder about something. So we need the confidence and skill to engage, when necessary, in a process of ‘trial and error’ – and to understand the difference between the two types of failure: one where thought could have prevented it and the other when trying it was the only way to learn (and so failure is actually a successful experiment).

Working with people.  Have we got the ability to allocate, motivate, direct and coordinate work to be done by different people?

That is not a neat and tidy picture of nicely defined and separated skills or abilities – but real life isn’t neat and tidy either. When faced with problems often we can’t just look up the answer and plug it in and that is when we need an appropriate range of abilities to analyse a problem, to decide on action, and to direct that action to deliver – and those are just the skills needed to solve problems. Such skills are not gained by assimilating the relevant and necessary knowledge, like many’ business’ subjects, but by actually practicing them, more like sports, and ideally while being coached. But awareness of those skills may at least be a helpful first step.