Friday Notes, January 31, 2025
[Editor’s note (although there is obviously no editor): For as long as I can manage, I’m going to keep this space free of commentary about fast-breaking political events in the United States. There are plenty of places to find that content. Instead, while the zone is being flooded, this will be a place to zone out.]
Dear friends —
Earlier this week a colleague asked, “What is your philosophy of professional development?” I did not have a ready response, but probably should have — as should anyone who’s responsible for supporting colleagues’ skill development and other aspects of professional growth. So, after a little time thinking about it, here’s my rough draft philosophy of professional development.
What’s the scope of what we’re talking about? There’s a narrow definition of professional development: acquiring new skills and knowledge through taking courses, attending conferences, and pursuing certification. There’s a broader definition of professional development, which I prefer: along with acquiring new skills, making intentional efforts to learn more about yourself and the work environment so you have greater understanding of, and ability to realize, your potential.
Toward what end? Whether conceptualized narrowly or broadly, the main purpose of professional development is to help create the conditions for you to fully succeed in your current job — and to create the conditions for whatever next step you desire to take.
What are the skills and knowledge to pursue? This is an almost infinite set, but within a hierarchy or sequence. First things first.
Basic skills you need to do your job. This may include using various types of technology; organizing and facilitating efficient meetings; project management; relationship-building; managing a budget . . . and more. All of these can be learned on-the-job with or without formal training. The top priority is to master those skills.
Above-and-beyond skills that make a fantastic colleague. Again, there’s a huge variety here, but top on my list are: the ability to communicate clearly in multiple forms and to multiple audiences; the ability to anticipate and prevent or solve problems; adoption of a perspective above your “level” in an organization; authentic positivity and an orientation toward “yes, if” rather than “no, because" . . . and more.
Contextual or background knowledge that fosters deeper insights. What I mean by this is the knowledge that comes with deeper subject matter expertise, or learning about history and culture, or maintaining a bead on current events — anything that lets you make connections to enrich the work you do.
How should you learn? Different people learn in different ways, but there’s received wisdom about how adults learn best. Adult learning requires relevance — that is, that what you’re learning is something you believe you need for a real-world purpose, and will use. Adult learning is experiential. Very little sticks in our heads if we’re just passive audiences; we need not only to see and hear but to do, and particularly to try/fail/try again. Adult learning is social. We learn much better when we’re engaged with each other and reinforcing knowledge with human connection.
For the basic skills part of professional development, formal training like short courses or intensive workshops are best, as long as there are opportunities to practice the skills and get feedback, and then get some refreshers later if needed.
For the “above and beyond” part, some skills can be obtained through intentional mentoring or coaching but the absolute best way to acquire them is by volunteering for a stretch assignment. Don’t take my word for this. Read the excellent article by Jahna Berry, “Why You Should Take on More Stretch Assignments.”
For the contextual or background knowledge part of professional development, the array of valuable options is truly endless, from reading groups to master’s degree programs to immersive (vs touristy) travel. When I think about this category in my own professional history, I learned more from a day working with waste-pickers on a municipal garbage pile in Accra, Ghana, than from all of the dozens of conferences I’ve attended. There are limits of time and money; there is no limit to the possibilities.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten on my attempt at a philosophy of professional development. I owe my colleague a response, so your thoughts are very welcome! (My email is ruthelevine150@gmail.com.)
I was excited to see the blog post from my old friends at IDinsight, “Why We Invested in Process Improvement — and What We’ve Gained Thus Far.” In it, they tell the story of how they applied a process improvement mindset as the organization grew, and were able to build an enterprise-wide way to source and prioritize ideas, build out solutions, and support widespread adoption of new tools and approaches. World-class ingenuity applied to the social sector.
Now this is the hype team we all need!
Have a good weekend,
-Ruth