When you give them the reason as to why and after they achieve a result or fail you further probe into how they got there, you begin to see a pattern emerge.
The pattern unlocks the insight of how that individual is performing not just with the task that is assigned but with everything.
“How you do anything is how you do everything.”
I am constantly observing, not judging but instead learning from my team how they reach their solutions.
Not everyone will get it even after you explain the why behind the task.
What that means is that you didn’t explain it clearly enough for the person to understand, in other words, you weren’t speaking the person’s language.
When something is broken I tend to fix things, when I can’t get to the solution I begin to look outside the scope, test and try different methods and collect and analyze data. This is what I want my team to do, and the way to get there is to be interested in their process and to get them interested too.
To sum it up:
Teaching people a new way of thinking is done by giving them the tools that will help them figure it out for themselves.
It’s important to explain why you want someone to do what you ask them to do because;
You build a relationship with them, you instill a culture of openness and you paint a picture of the whole rather than just the parts.
Your team will feel empowered and purpose driven instead of just task-doers.
“The only way to grow the company is to grow the people.” Scaling Up by Verne Harnish