The post tries to recognise that it's not as easy as this:
> you try to help them level up: pay for classes, conferences, and/or books; connect them with mentors or coaches; figure out if something’s in the way and remove the blocker.
The reason the post can't come up with an answer is that there isn't one that we like.
Because at a simplistic level, it's a blocker. Maybe they have the knowledge, but not the experience. Maybe they have the experience, but not the organisation skills to make use of the experience. Maybe they have the organisation skills, but not the discipline to use them. Maybe they have the discipline, but not the discernment to know how to keep or retrieve good useful notes. Maybe Tim's just a bit dim.
Once we know what that blocker actually is, maybe - just maybe - we can find a way to overcome it or mitigate it.
But it's hard - because however nice Tim is, every fibre of his being wants to smooth over the cracks in his ability. The nagging pain that fuels his impostor syndrome doesn't want to be found - he wants to blend in, he doesn't want to be embarrassed or called out. And even if he tries his hardest to open up to his equally nice boss, he may not be able to articulate why he gets himself into hot water. He might not even know himself what the blocker is. (Unknown unknowns, and all that.)
Traditional corporate wisdom would have Tim "fail upwards", because by the time his "blocker" is noticed, it's easier than firing him. As much as we hate this good fortune that seems to reward the incompetent, it quite often works and ends up being in the best interest of the company; the skills that are missing from a "worker" are probably not needed in a manager, and being a people-person at heart who trust his reports... well, that may make him a far better manager than many of his peers.
It's not a nice answer, but it's an answer that unfortunately seems proven to work.
The post tries to recognise that it's not as easy as this:
> you try to help them level up: pay for classes, conferences, and/or books; connect them with mentors or coaches; figure out if something’s in the way and remove the blocker.
The reason the post can't come up with an answer is that there isn't one that we like.
Because at a simplistic level, it's a blocker. Maybe they have the knowledge, but not the experience. Maybe they have the experience, but not the organisation skills to make use of the experience. Maybe they have the organisation skills, but not the discipline to use them. Maybe they have the discipline, but not the discernment to know how to keep or retrieve good useful notes. Maybe Tim's just a bit dim.
Once we know what that blocker actually is, maybe - just maybe - we can find a way to overcome it or mitigate it.
But it's hard - because however nice Tim is, every fibre of his being wants to smooth over the cracks in his ability. The nagging pain that fuels his impostor syndrome doesn't want to be found - he wants to blend in, he doesn't want to be embarrassed or called out. And even if he tries his hardest to open up to his equally nice boss, he may not be able to articulate why he gets himself into hot water. He might not even know himself what the blocker is. (Unknown unknowns, and all that.)
Traditional corporate wisdom would have Tim "fail upwards", because by the time his "blocker" is noticed, it's easier than firing him. As much as we hate this good fortune that seems to reward the incompetent, it quite often works and ends up being in the best interest of the company; the skills that are missing from a "worker" are probably not needed in a manager, and being a people-person at heart who trust his reports... well, that may make him a far better manager than many of his peers.
It's not a nice answer, but it's an answer that unfortunately seems proven to work.