Page 223 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

HOW DO I RESPOND TO DISPOSABILITY AND CHANGE? (GROWTH, LEARNING, AND RESILIENCE)

they spend a lot of time and money and even if they rave
about the program, will change very little as a result of their
investment and enthusiasm. Helping employees (and our-
selves) generalize learning by applying it in new settings and
spreading it around is not easy. But without this key step,
generating great ideas is a waste of time.
In organizations, leaders move knowledge across many
boundaries: vertical (from the top to the bottom of an orga-
nization), horizontal (from one function, department, or
business to another), external (from supplier or customer),
global (from one geographic site to another), or temporal
(from one time period to another). Leaders generalize learn-
5
ing across these boundaries by buying and building talent,
creating incentives, and using information systems.

Talent

Organizations are only as gifted at generalizing ideas as
the individuals who compose them. Robert Eichinger and
Michael Lombardo have identified 68 competencies of
talented employees. These competencies are based on a con-
tent analysis of dozens of studies and competence models.
Specific competencies of individuals who help organizations
generalize ideas across boundaries include: 6

12. conflict management
27. informing
32. learning on the fly
33. listening
36. motivating others
46. perspective
48. political savvy
51. problem solving

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