Thar be dragons (or, why overwhelm is a constant development risk)

In maps of old, unchartered territories were marked with dragons.

These dragons represented the perils of the unknown, the dread that the unexplored and unimaginable suggested.

Dragons on those maps had their purpose, of course. They scared away those who never wanted to go beyond their limits and they allowed those brave enough to venture across the waters to the riches and wealth that can lie on the other side side.

Every day you expect people around you to grow and develop.

Because you must venture to the other side to develop, you can help your team members, reports or family by identifying growth opportunities, and coaching them through new skill acquisition and on to higher performance. You can create an environment where they get to follow their instincts, and you can set them challenges that stretch them out of their comfort zones.

Getting out of the comfort zone is important. It helps encourage new behaviours and patterns of thinking. It reveals false assumptions, tests the ability to intellectually and emotionally engage with themselves and others, and provides the opportunity to explore new limits.

But, what if you give a development challenge that goes too far?

What if you force someone to confront a dragon?

You go too far if you set a marathon for someone who can only manage a short sprint.
You go too far if you take away the training wheels before someone is ready.

In short there are two ways in which you can force someone out of challenge, and straight to dragon territory:

• You sent a challenge that actually pushes them into overwhelm or sets them up for failure; or
• You fail to provide (or withdraw) support mechanisms needed to maintain challenge or recover from overwhelm.

Knowing where overwhelm lies matters most. And unless your very experienced or have a very strong relationship with your report, they won’t necessarily be able to tell you where the dragons are until it’s too late.

There is a thin line between challenge and overwhelm.

Understanding where that line is lets us define challenge.

In challenge we grow. We anticipate what’s coming, our senses are at their peak and we can often be in flow as we deal with what’s happening. We know to ask questions, to request feedback and are resilient in how we incorporate that feedback into our future activities.

In overwhelm we start to shut down. Sometimes fight or flight responses kick in, but mostly we find it safer to keep our heads down and out of harms way.

The 5 Levels of Development Challenge

In order to understand the danger and opportunities posed by the dragons, we’ve got to examine the five levels of development challenge:

• Comfort
• Challenge
• Overwhelm
• Failure
• Thar be dragons

Or, visually:

Five Levels of Development Challenge

Comfort

This one is easy. Some of us spend almost our entire lives here, barely experiencing challenge, sometimes forgetting the lessons of the past.

That’s not to say it’s worthless. Lots of important tasks and activities happen in comfort. It’s just that staying put here leads to stagnation.

Challenge

This is when you’re growing. That often means it hurts a bit, but the experiences you have and the things you bump into serve to teach you what you need to learn. Success and failure are both feedback. Both can spur you on to higher activities and lead you to growth.

It’s where you go from past “knowns” into future “unknowns” through skill acquisition, pattern recognition, integrating new knowledge and insights, and using the power of reflection and feedback to stimulate future growth.

Overwhelm

This is the state where “it’s all too much”. Where despite what you “know” in your head you don’t believe there’s a pathway to the result you need.

When in overwhelm most people shut down, demonstrate denial, refuse counsel or guidance, fail to take advantage of support mechanisms and may attempt to shift the blame for their predicament to others.

Each of these may be a sign that you’ve gone too far. That the challenge is too great, that the support insufficient.

This is where you throw out the lifelines, redouble the support and, if necessary, reset the expectations (both yours and your report’s).

Failure

This is, of course, a dangerous place, and best avoided . If your report goes through overwhelm and starts identifying as a “failure” the work needed to repair that individual’s confidence, sense of self and intrinsic worth will take time.

Thar be dragons

Beyond Failure Thar Be Dragons.

Here, of course, there’s a rub. Sometimes people who go through overwhelm, into failure and persist, discover there’s a bright new world of opportunities or that what they thought was important to them really is not.

Sometimes, however, there truly are dragons. Dragons that reflect the innermost fears of some.

Prevent overwhelm, preserve the challenge.

The next time you’re mapping out development activities for your team or reports, remember that what looks like challenge to you may have crossed the line into overwhelm for your report.

• Spend time explaining that the thin line between challenge and overwhelm matters to you, and to your report’s success.
• Invest in and ensure that support systems, from something as simple as a weekly chat, the provision of training, mentoring or coaching, or even a guarantee of protection against superiors, of budget review or other measures.

None of this is meant to prevent you from developing your staff: that’s a responsibility you have as a manager and leader. Equally, you also have the responsibility for helping them grow by exploring their previously unchartered waters.

And helping them avoid the dragons.

Next Steps

Work with John: Find out how working with John will improve the results you and your organisation achieve.
Subscribe : Get Updates via RSS
Get John’s newsletter via email: Fill in your details in the top-right hand form on the site
Don’t forget: To share the article via Twitter, Facebook, email, blog or your newsletter
Tell John what you think: Discuss this article using the comment form below, or by commenting on Twitter or Facebook.