Page 64 - Make Work Great

Overtness About Task
Be Overt About Your Capability

KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Determine the sensitivities of each of your summary outputs: what
individuals or groups can make changes that impact your goals?
• Consider the skills you need to deliver on each of your summary
objectives: what do you need to know how to do?

• Identify people and/or tools that can help you answer these
questions.

you have a relationship with a coworker, employee, or manager that
allows for an honest discussion of your strengths. Make note of both
groups of people; they are key sources of information regarding the
sixth form of overtness.
If you lack people in either category, consider your alternatives. For
example, “360-degree feedback,” the increasingly common structured
process of seeking input from coworkers at all levels, can provide use-
ful insight into your strengths and weaknesses if managed correctly.
Or you may decide to work toward forging some relationships with
people who can give you the information you need. Does your com-
pany have a mentoring program? Is there a good personal coach in
your organization or your community, perhaps one who uses objec-
tive assessment tools? Ultimately, there’s no substitute for the honesty
and objectivity of someone who knows about the sensitivities and
skills related to your work—or who knows how to discover them.*

*As a former engineer, I recommend and use only 360-degree or self-reporting assessment tools that
meet high standards for analytical rigor (validity, face validity, normative population size, etc.). I
encourage others to use the same approach when considering possible tools. The wide variety of
options available can make the selection process daunting, but the effort is worthwhile. The quality of
the information you receive is only as good as the technique or instrument you employ, and irrelevant,
incomplete, or incorrect information about one’s own skills can be wasteful and damaging on many
levels when it is presented as being factual.

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