One of the principles of the Agile Manifesto is, “Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.”
The general belief is that a self-organizing team has enhanced ability to produce high-quality working software efficiently. But how often are we able to create such an environment, where the teams are motivated and take full accountability for the work they do? We need to get smart about the hierarchy of smart.
Don’t talk to all your employees, all your users or all your prospects the same way, because they’re not the same. If you treat an expert like a novice, you’ll fail. — Seth Godin
Now, I’m a huge Seth Godin fan but I’d go a step further and say if we ask team members to take responsibility before they are ready, we will also fail. I feel only when a UX designer reaches the Competent level is he/she ready and willing to take ownership of their work.
“…you might see folks at this level typically described as “having initiative” and being “resourceful.” They tend to be in a leadership role in the team…even at this level, practitioners can’t apply agile methods the way we would like — there isn’t yet enough ability for reflection and self correction…” — Andrew Hunt
When we don’t have enough Competent and Proficient UX Designers available (in terms of skills and not a reflection of the person…Stage 3 referenced below) we cannot reasonably expect them to be ready to take ownership.
So how do we help designers become ready?
For this discussion I will be referencing the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. The Dreyfus model is used fairly widely (a) to provide a means of assessing and supporting progress in the development of skills or competencies, and (b) to provide a definition of acceptable level for the assessment of competence or capability. The ‘expert’ level does not signify that development stops, as expert practitioners need to evaluate their practice and keep up-to-date with new processes.
Stage 1: Novice
Has an incomplete understanding, approaches tasks mechanistically and needs supervision to complete them.
- The novice follows rules
- Specific Rules for specific circumstances
- Wants to be given a manual, told what to do, with no decisions required
Stage 2: Advanced Beginner
Has a working understanding, tends to see actions as a series of steps, can complete simpler tasks without supervision.
- Rules begin to be applied to related conditions
- Decisions still based on rule application
- Does not experience personal responsibility…yet
Stage 3: Competence
Has a good working and background understanding, sees actions at least partly in context, able to complete work independently to a standard that is acceptable though it may lack refinement.
- Learns organizing principles or “perspectives”
- The experience of responsibility arises from active decision-making
- Wants the ability to make plans, create routines and choose among activities
Stage 4: Proficiency
Has a deep understanding, sees actions holistically, can achieve a high standard routinely
- Prioritizes importance of aspects
- Perceives deviations from the normal pattern
- The more freedom you offer, the more you expect, the more you’ll get
Stage 5: Expertise
Has an authoritative or deep holistic understanding, deals with routine matters intuitively, able to go beyond existing interpretations, achieves excellence with ease.
- Transcends reliance on rules, guidelines, and maxims
- Intuitive grasp of situations based on deep, tacit understanding
- Writes the manual, doesn’t follow it.