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Teacher-able, part 1

You heard it here first, a new word ‘teacherable’.  No doubt you’ve heard of the word ‘teachable’. 

The definition of teachable according to dictionary.com…

teach·a·ble

  /ˈtitʃəbəl/ [tee-chuh-buhl]

adjective

1.capable of being instructed, as a person; docile.

2.capable of being taught, as a subject.

 my new adjective ‘teacherable’ is defined as:

 teach·er·a·ble

 1. capable and willing to instruct others

Notice I added the word ‘willing’, that’s the interesting thing about educating others, many are capable but few are willing.

If only in the R&D community there were more ‘teacherable’ researchers.  Many R&D organizations tout the fact that they have cultures of continual learning and collaboration. One step further is a culture that is ‘teacherable’.  We need more of that in our R&D organizations. We need researchers who are willing to collaborate but to also teach, not teach undergrad level basics but their current research, their current learning’s in their development work, not only to their managers in their monthly reports but to everyone who cares to look their way and they do this using a variety of tools.

Reseachers who are teacherable personify what it takes for faster innovation….more to follow.

Are you ‘teacherable? if not why not?

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4 Ways to be More Productive

I sometimes feel un-productive with my time. Many times I feel guilty for not getting more done with my time, whether at work or home I hate procrastination.  I think procrastination is a common enemy to us all.   It’s easy to procrastinate with tasks that are difficult and unpleasant.  But it is the unpleasant tasks of life that we most need to get past.

There are little things that we can do to increase our productivity each day, things that don’t require a productivity seminar and a 500 page book to read.  Below are 4 ways to improve your productivity.

  1. Get up early, give yourself at least 2 hours before you need to leave for work, there is something about the early morning hours, being alone and starting your day before the average person, I think it gives you that extra sense of productivity for the rest of the day.
  2. Write a list of things to do in the morning, every day write a list of the major things that you want to accomplish for the day, keep that list with you and refer to it at lunch and mid afternoon.
  3. Do the most difficult tasks first, Michael Hyatt discusses this concept well in his blog.  http://michaelhyatt.com/stop-procrastinating.html

“We only have a limited supply of willpower.  Once it’s been used up for the day, chances of us tackling hard tasks are pretty slim. Dive into your hardest task when your energy level is at its highest. This will ensure the best results.”

      4.   Realize that you are just one person, you can only accomplish a finite number of things each day, its ok to just go to bed and get ready for a productive morning.

Do you feel productive most days?, what ways have you found to help you feel more productive?

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Competency is Critical

Good Leader Bad Manager

Have you ever wondered what makes a great manager? It is more than leadership skill, I know of several good leaders who make ineffective managers. There are also effective managers who don’t seem to be strong leaders. What can explain this discrepancy? How could a strong leader not manage well? I think that competency makes all the difference in high-tech R&D leadership.

In the field of high-tech R&D an effective manager needs to be competent in their field. The level of competence needed for effective management is often underestimated. Many think strong leaders will lead well wherever they are. If they are trained in management then they will lead well even if they are not competent in their field. Project leadership teacher say one does not necessarily need to understand the science in depth to lead a technical project. I believe this is often not the case.

“Competence is possessing skill and knowledge that allows us to do something successfully. It also describes the ability to apply prior experience to new situations with good effect. Our competency usually increases over time as we acquire more information and ability through inquiry, observation, and participation…” –  www.wisdomcommons.org

High Tech Competence

Most R&D projects require high-tech competence beyond the average person. Compared to running a retail business or marketing products or managing a construction project, high-tech competence is difficult to find. Therefore managers of these projects must be willing and able to learn from his/her scientists. Even be able and willing to work as a scientist in order to gain the necessary competency to manage.

Often the employees who are highly competent in science don’t make great managers because they are not interested in management. They became scientists because that’s what they wanted to do, they love science and love inventing. Few want to move into the stressful field of management? As a result many scientists are not accustomed to making difficult decisions under pressure.

But for those brave enough to venture into management I think there are at least three things we can do to prepare ourselves to manage R&D projects.

  1. Pursue competence through study and research, don’t take the shallow expert in everything approach, go deep into whatever you are working on.
  2. Always be in the habit of learning from your own experiments or other scientist’s work?
  3. Become decisive, develop the habit of making decisions and correcting bad decisions, break through the fear of making bad decisions.

Have you ever noticed a strong leader who is a lousy manager? and was competence part of the problem?

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