Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

The passing of time is usually insufficient for a person to move from task to another. Sorry. Hopes and wishes are not plans.

I have seen this time and again. A person is hired for one job with the qualifications needed for that job. A few years later, that person is moved into another job. Other qualifications for the other job?

Two questions:

1. What did we hire this person to do in the first job?
2. What has changed in this person to qualify them for the second job?

Well, this person has matured five years and … or this person has watched me do the second job for five years and …

Sorry. Insufficient answers. This person is bright, teachable, willing to learn, hard working (don’t ya’ just love when that last one is tossed in?), has never been specifically trained for the second job, and is therefore unqualified for it and… What usually happens is lots of innocent bystanders are harmed (some irrevocably) while the person learns the second job on the job.

Hopes and wishes are not plans. We sure hope and wish this person has picked up enough to do the second job. That would sure make our lives easier if our hopes and wishes would come true. And, sometimes hopes and wishes come true. It is unfortunate that is about 1% of the time.

Sorry. We know better. Let’s do better. If we are “grooming” a person for that second job, let’s do it right.