Latest Commonplace piece is about the difference between exec development and training individual contributors.
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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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Replying to
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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Tough for asians living in America.
For a long time I wondered why other people got opportunities and then I found out they asked for them. 🤦♂️
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Yeah. In Asia, it's seen as not cool to put your hand up and volunteer for things.
In 1 of my old companies, I volunteered for stuff. British CEO loved it. Singaporean COO, one day when she was drunk, called me into her office and literally told me to "fuck off". Actual words.
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Also, another annoying thing is that, as a leader, you have to guess who you can throw into the deep end... And it's sad when someone sinks, but it's also sad if you wrote someone off who could've swum. The amount of missed opportunity is HUGE. There's literally no way to know.
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I suspect Diller is an existence proof that you can get better at it:
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Replying to @ejames_c and @DRMacIver
(That's the systems thinker in me speaking. The business operator in me is saying: 'actually, I think half of the game is his judgment of people'. So the costs are high, but lower than you might expect.)
Pity that judgment is tacit. 