Preformance Enablers

For capability to be realized into performance you need support systems. Agreed. So what is the big deal. It is all about performance then do you need temporary capability with support systems or do you need systems that can allow flexibility in capability development. Too much of emphasis has gone into capability development - knowledge growth and skill development, are some aspects that are almost synonymous today.

Think about a movie, the actors perform a part that befits the role. The role exists because of a story . The acting responds to contextual situation. You see the inter-connectivity.So knowledge of the context is married to the situation demanding a particular response from the actor. Props, script, action are detailed out to demonstrate the outcome. The acting skills of the actor ( core capability ) is tailored to the situation as modelled by the director. You get it . The systems and  processes and the eco-system enable the translation of an idea into reality.

Let us shift now to the corporate world. It appears , that we want a movie like outcome from all players. Except , that we want a larger and dynamic canvass ( the story does not end as in a movie), with all players moving in unison and demonstrating flexible capability based on a given situation. The real world does now work this way anymore and hence performance variations are quite drastic. The rate of change externally is at a mismatch with internal rate of change - creating great performance variations.

So what is the way forward . Focus on platform skills of learning agility. Create an eco-system where knowledge repository can exist. Much like the director in a movie , create directors who can teach and if that is not possible , have a repository of skill videos so that temporary skill can be acquired at a short notice , intended just for the purpose. Let's say , your job does not involve vendor negotiation. Yet , a situation demands that you need to lead a negotiation with a vendor for a price agreement.. You are worried about how to present a value. Pause. At this point , you may want to get yourself trained in negotiation skills. Time does not allow it. You can google search and read a few articles on successful value presentation. Or have a library of videos that shows sample presentation of values. If such screened resources are available , you have a good chance of modelling few techniques and being better equipped for your meeting.

You can see, that capability is not necessarily equal to performance , unless a performance system exists to allow that process.