I was recently listening to a podcast that interviewed Liz Wiseman about learning and knowing. She advocates using the mentality of learning and argues that this mode brings out our best performance. You can retain some of the behaviors of a learner even in domains where you have expertise.

I relate to Wiseman’s hypothesis in terms of the “beginner’s mind” of openness. She argues that being an expert, or knowing a lot about a subject, can get in the way of exploring and delivering higher quality results. It feels like this argument is mixed up in how we approach a problem. Is it possible to be an expert and still approach a problem without a presumption of the right-answer and without artificial constraints?

I also see the argument that as experts we are less likely to seek out help. Asking for help is one of the most powerful tools we have in our toolkit. Regardless of our depth of expertise in any subject, seeking out other opinions or perspectives can enhance the quality of the solution.

I recall taking the role of Director of IT for a large physician practice in the Chicago suburbs and feeling under qualified. I was responsible for the desktops and servers that the practice needed to run day-to-day. I was also responsible for helping select and implement an entirely new practice management system integrated with an electronic medical record. This scope of implementation impacting hundreds of employees and thousands of patients was entirely new to me. I found that I asked more questions, I worked harder, and I sought out help from others much more than I might have otherwise had I implemented a similar system before.

Wiseman contends that we are best suited to deliver results in particular when we are under qualified for the responsibility. I’d be keen to see the data on this conclusion. I can understand that feeling under qualified may push us to work harder and seek out more help. But does one have to be under qualified in order to practice those behaviors and gain an even better result?

I have implemented the agile process of software development in dozens of teams over my career. I can honestly say that I have seen many of the common pitfalls and failure points, as well as the best practices that help drive high performing teams to succeed. I have also adopted a mindset that my experience is one input into a complicated environment that is different each time a new process is implemented. I enter into each of these circumstances with as much of an open mind as possible. I ask a lot of questions of the team and the management. I suggest ideas to try with follow-up on whether or not we have achieved progress towards the goals of the team.

It is possible to approach a problem for which you are qualified with a beginner’s mind. I have used these tactics and think they will help you begin a project with a learner’s mind.

Ask open ended questions of your collaborators
Challenge your own assumptions that constrain the problem
Suggest something radically different than you would otherwise
Conduct a time-boxed brainstorming session that truly allows everyone to contribute without judgement

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