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Technical
13 NEGOTIATION
Description
Can negotiate skillfully in tough situations with both internal and external groups; can settle differences with minimum noise; can win concessions without damaging relationships; can be both direct and forceful as well as diplomatic; gains trust quickly of other parties to the negotiations; has a good sense of timing.
13 NEGOTIATION
OVERUSED SKILL
May leave people-damage in his/her wake; may walk over people's feelings; may always need to win; may hang on to a position too long; may become overly accommodating and be reluctant to walk away; may need to smooth over everything; may take too long to get things decided.
UNSKILLED
Not a good deal maker; doesn't come away with much; may use ineffective tactics - too hard or too soft; may have to win every battle or gives away too much to get the agreement; poor conflict manager, trouble dealing with attack, contention or nonnegotiable points; may hold back and be afraid to take tough stands; poor listener; may not seek or know how to find common ground; may be too noisy and do too much damage to relationships; may not know how to be diplomatic, direct and polite.
14 TECHNICAL LEARNING
Description
Identifies and creates the processes necessary to get work done; Separates and combines activities into efficient workflow; Designs processes and procedures that allow managing from a distance; Seeks ways to improve processes, from small tweaks to complete reengineering
14 TECHNICAL LEARNING
OVERUSED SKILL
May learn but not act; may overdo learning at the expense of using it; may be seen as too academic; may not relate well to those who can't catch on as quickly.
UNSKILLED
Doesn't learn new technical skills readily; is among the last to learn or adopt new technology - like Internet technology; may be stuck and wed to past technologies and resist switching to new ones; may be intimidated by technology; may lack experience or exposure with new technologies; may not be interested in things technical or areas involving lots of detail; may not know how to or may reject using others to learn new technologies
15 PROCESS MANAGEMENT
DescriptionIdentifies and creates the processes necessary to get work done; Separates and combines activities into efficient workflow; Designs processes and procedures that allow managing from a distance; Seeks ways to improve processes, from small tweaks to complete reengineering
15 PROCESS MANAGEMENT
OVERUSED SKILL
May always be tinkering and refining -nothing is ever the same for long; may have trouble explaining his/her vision of a process; may never finish anything; may always be dissatisfied because of unreasonably high standards and expectations of self and others; may attempt to put too much together at once; may misjudge the capacity of others to absorb change.
UNSKILLED
Not good at figuring out effective and efficient ways to get things done; works in a disorganized fashion; doesn't take advantage of opportunities for synergy and efficiency with others; can't visualize effective processes in his/her head; lays out tasks for self and others in a helter-skelter way; doesn't work to simplify things; uses more resources than others to get the same thing done; lacks attention to detail; doesn't anticipate the problems that will arise; not a systemic thinker.
16 BUSINESS ACUMEN
Description
Business acumen involves:
Knowing how businesses work.
Being knowledgeable in current and possible future policies, practices, trends, technology, and information affecting the business and organization.
Knowing the competition and knowing how strategies and tactics work in the marketplace.
16 BUSINESS ACUMEN
OVERUSED SKILL
May overdevelop or depend upon industry and business knowledge and skills at the expense of personal, interpersonal, managerial, and leadership skills.
UNSKILLED
Doesn't understand how businesses work; not knowledgeable and up-to-date about current and future policies, trends, technology, and information affecting his/ her business and organization; doesn't know the competition; is unaware of how strategies and tactics work in the marketplace.
17 INNOVATION MANAGEMENT
Description
Comes up with useful ideas that are new, better, or unique; Introduces new ways of looking at problems; Can take a creative idea and put it into practice; Encourages diverse thinking to promote and nurture innovation.
17 INNOVATION MANAGEMENT
OVERUSED SKILL
May err toward the new and reject the old; may prefer creative people and undervalue those less creative; may get too far out in front of others in thinking and planning.
UNSKILLED
Not a good judge of what's creative; doesn't understand the marketplace for innovation; can't select from among creative ideas which one would work the best; doesn't innovate; may not be open to the creative suggestions of others; may be stuck in his/her comfort zone of tasks and methods of doing them; may not understand creativity or the process of innovation; may close too soon with solutions and conclusions; may be a perfectionist avoiding risk and fearing failures and mistakes; may not use experiments to learn and improve, and may block the innovations of others.
18 GLOBAL BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE
Description
Knows how businesses work and how organizations make money; Keeps up with current and possible future policies, practices, and trends in the organization, with the competition, and in the marketplace; Uses knowledge of business drivers and how strategies and tactics play out in the market to guide actions.
18 GLOBAL BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE
OVERUSED SKILL
Unnecessarily complicates things; overthinks challenges and opportunities; not patient with those who do not know as much; can't settle on a course of action; thinks of too many options; has difficulty prioritizing a course of action; changes strategic and tactical course too quickly.
UNSKILLED
Doesn't understand global business; sees business issues in terms of a one-country experience; is rigid about doing things only one way; does not learn new ways of doing things; has a narrow perspective; does not accept novel ways of approaching problems.
19 DECISION QUALITY
DescriptionMakes sound decisions, even in the absence of complete information; Relies on a mixture of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment when making decisions; Considers all relevant factors and uses appropriate decision-making criteria and principles; Recognizes when a quick 80% solution will suffice.
19 DECISION QUALITY
OVERUSED SKILL
May see him/herself as overly wise or close to perfect, as someone who can't or doesn't make mistakes; may be seen as stubborn and not willing to negotiate or compromise; may get frustrated when advice is rejected; may not relate well to less data-based people.
UNSKILLED
Goes first with quick solutions, conclusions and statements before analysis; may rely too much on self-doesn't ask for help; making decisions may trigger emotions and impatience; may not use orderly decision methods, models or ways to think; may jump to conclusions based on prejudices, historical solutions or narrow perspective; doesn't take the time to define the problem before deciding; may have trouble with complexity; may wait too long, agonize over every detail to avoid risk or error; may go for the big elegant decision when five little ones would be better.
20 ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY
Description
Knowledgeable about how organizations work; knows how to get things done both through formal channels and the informal network; understands the origin and reasoning behind key policies, practices, and procedures; understands the cultures of organizations
20 ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY
OVERUSED SKILL
May spend too much time maneuvering for advantage; may spend too much time and energy working on issues that lack substance; may be seen as too political.
UNSKILLED
Doesn't get things done in organizations beyond his/her area; may lack the interpersonal skills to get things done across boundaries; may not negotiate well within organizations; may be too timid and laid back to maneuver through organizations; may reject the complexity of organizations; may lack the experience or simply not know who and where to go; may be too impatient to learn; may neither know nor care to know the origins of how things work around the organization.
21 TOTAL WORK SYSTEMS
Description
Total work systems involve: Is dedicated to providing organization or enterprise-wide common systems for designing and measuring work processes. Seeks to reduce variances in organization processes. Delivers the highest-quality products and services which meet the needs and requirements of internal and external customers. Is committed to continuous improvement through empowerment and management by data. Leverages technology to positively impact quality. Is willing to re-engineer processes from scratch. Is open to suggestions and experimentation. Creates a learning environment leading to the most efficient and effective work processes.
SKILLED
Is dedicated to providing organization or enterprise-wide common systems for designing and measuring work processes; seeks to reduce variances in organization processes; delivers the highest quality products and services which meet the needs and requirements of internal and external customers; is committed to continuous improvement through empowerment and management by data; leverages technology to positively impact quality; is willing to re-engineer processes from scratch; is open to suggestions and experimentation; creates a learning environment leading to the most efficient and effective work processes.
21 TOTAL WORK SYSTEMS
OVERUSED SKILL
May become a work process or quality improvement missionary to the exclusion of everything else; may make marginal incremental changes which are more disruptive than helpful; may not deliver results because of extreme focus on process or rules;
may reject other approaches and non-believers.
UNSKILLED
Doesn't think broadly regarding the impact of work processes; doesn't comply or work to build commonalities in processes; doesn't create effective and efficient work processes; isn't customer focused in how he/she designs and manages the work; isn't dedicated to continuous improvement of work processes; doesn't leverage technology to improve work processes; doesn't know the tools and techniques to improve work processes; sticks to the old and familiar rather than stepping back and seeing the larger pattern; isn't willing to scrap the past in favor of the new and improved; doesn't listen to employees about improving work design; doesn't empower others to design their own work processes; doesn't create an environment where the whole unit learns together how better to serve the customer.