Latest Commonplace piece is about the difference between exec development and training individual contributors.
Conversation
This is one of those essays where I'm not 100% sure of the conclusions — I'll have to put it to practice before I can say for certain.
But there *does* seem to be a tension between 'handholding' ICs, and 'throwing execs into the deep end', and it seems productive to investigate.
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One thing that I'm actively chewing over: perhaps 'throwing people into the deep end' is simply a pedagogical thing, but for high potential hires.
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Throwing people into the deep end - There are people who swim and those who sink.
Like Diller says, it's impossible to tell who is who until you do it. And it's always VERY painful for those who sink. They think you're mistreating them, and you actually are.
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Also worth mentioning:
An American will put their hand up and ask to be thrown in the deep end even if they're bound to sink.
An Asian will go to their grave saying they're not ready even if they are, and importantly, even if they know they are and want to be thrown in.
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This is a wonderful series of tweets, and it rings true to me.