:
Gifted & Talented in the Workplace =
“High Potential --or-- High Performer
Compare & Contrast: G&T with High Potential
A Closer Look at Learning Agility
Other Key Concepts: Competencies, Career Stallers
& Stoppers
Development: The Whole Picture
Offer a perspective you may have not known
before for possible insights for education of G&T
2. Confirm the many aspects of over-lap of gifted
and high potential
3. Contrast the high performer- expert as gifted but
NOT high potential—yet valuable insights for them
also
4. Long range goal of education: enable you to
discover your abilities and maximize them (right?)
1.
130+ and/or achievement, rate of acquisition/
retention, demonstrated achievement, early skill
development, allowing for intervening factors
masking giftedness (Pa. criteria)
Demonstrating the ability to learn from experience,
and subsequently apply that learning to perform
successfully under new or first time conditions (aka:
learning agility)
Resilience, Adaptability when needed (vs. staunch,
heels dug in behavior)
Willingness to relinquish behavior that used to
work, but recognizing when it’s not producing
optimal outcomes--- therefore NEW skills are
needed
Examples: many ways to de-escalate conflict;
motivation differs among individuals, ….
List 3 (titles) of the most memorable experiences
you’ve had– that account in part for who you are
today
Now identify what you learned from each one–
what you internalized and was now a part of you
2-3 Examples?!?
MENTAL Agility:
PEOPLE Agility: know themselves very well and can readily deal
excellent critical thinkers who are comfortable
with complexity & ambiguity. Examine problems carefully, make fresh
connections. CAN clearly explain their logic to another
with a wide variety of people and tough situations; cool and resilient
under pressure
CHANGE Agility:
Curious, like to experiment, and can effectively
deal with the discomfort of change. Have a passion for ideas and are
highly interested in continually improving things
RESULTS Agility:
Deliver results in first time situations by
inspiring teams plus having significant ‘presence’. Exhibit the sort of
presence that builds confidence in themselves and others
Mental
People
Change
Results
MENTAL
PEOPLE
Curious
Gets to root causes
Comfortable with Ambiguity
Finds parallels & contrasts
easily
Questions Conventional
Wisdom
Finds solution to tough
problem
Reads broadly & has wide
interests
Open-minded & tolerant
Self Aware
Comfortable with diversity &
diverse opinions
Can play many roles
simultaneously
Understands others
Relishes helping others
succeed
Politically agile
Deals with conflict
constructively
Skilled communicator
CHANGE
RESULTS
Loves tinkering & trying
new things
Easily accepts challenges
Accepts responsibility &
accountability
Introduces new slants on
old ideas
Builds high performance
teams
Can pull off things against
all odds
Has tremendous drive to
accomplish tasks
Very flexible & adaptable
Has significant personal
presence
MENTAL
PEOPLE
Curious
Gets to root causes
Comfortable with Ambiguity
Finds parallels & contrasts
easily
Questions Conventional
Wisdom
Finds solution to tough
problem
Reads broadly & has wide
interests
Open-minded & tolerant
Self Aware
Comfortable with diversity &
diverse opinions
Can play many roles
simultaneously
Understands others
Relishes helping others
succeed
Politically agile
Deals with conflict
constructively
Skilled communicator
CHANGE
RESULTS
Loves tinkering & trying
new things
Easily accepts challenges
Accepts responsibility &
accountability
Introduces new slants on
old ideas
Builds high performance
teams
Can pull off things against
all odds
Has tremendous drive to
accomplish tasks
Very flexible & adaptable
Has significant personal
presence
Deep expertise in one discipline is considered
high performance; in contrast to high
potential encompassing systemic & multiple
disciplines’ impact on an optimal outcome
TRADITIONAL LEARNERS
High intellect
High Grades, class rank…
Scores well on tests (SAT,
ACT, GRE…)
High technical KSA
High verbal & analytic
skills
Linear problem solver–
gets THE right answer
Practice yields greater
expertise
ACTIVE LEARNERS
Street smarts (re: people)
High initiative &
motivation
High conceptual
complexity
Very broad thinker
Highly curious– why, how
High self awareness;
knows strengths &
limitations; resourceful
about limitations
7%
% of high potentials
that are not high
performers
Low Perf
Hi Perf
93%
% of high potentials
that are high
performers
High-Potential Management Survey
Corporate Leadership Council, 2005
% of high performers
that are high
potentials
29%
HiPo's
Not HiPo's
71%
% of high performers
that are not high
potentials
High-Potential Management Survey
Corporate Leadership Council, 2005
Robert Sternberg, while President of the APA,
collaborated with ____ to test application of the
predictability of “practical intelligence”
Sufficient results occurred that the additional
critical reasoning test section was added to the
traditional Verbal & Math measures
Change is difficult for human beings and I’m not
sure if the criticism has abated yet…. (Selective
score reporting; some schools not requiring it, etc)
PPI = Personal Potential Index
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Knowledge & Creativity
Communication Skills
Teamwork
Resilience
Planning & Organization
Ethics & Integrity
Learning Agility is the Means; the results aimed at
are increasing the development of Competencies
All Competencies are not created equally…
(see handout)
mmm
Extensive research since the 80’s verifies which
competencies can be learned from ‘significant
experiences’
Evidence of competencies can be spotted as early
as junior high & of course senior high & college
See original discovery diagram; it has only
increased in sources of experiences per
competencies
CCL Original Findings on Experiences That
Develop Adults
NOTE: % =
Frequency , not
Importance
Start-up/ Scratch
and
Fix-it/ Turnaround
are the most Powerful
23
Copyright Center for
Creative Leadership,
1986 All Rights Reserved
You are either consciously Adding, Refining or
Discarding previous behavior via Learning Agility
Or you are having lesson-rich experiences and NOT
Adding/Refining/Discarding skills (under-developed LA)
Learning Agility happens within the brain’s executive
function– or not
Think Darwinian Adaptation for survival of the species
as one example
A more challenging job
These set the developmental
challenge. Real-life important job
A developmental task demands trigger the motivation to
while in current job learn, and provide the experience.
25
70%
Role models, coaches,
mentors These fuel continuous improvement.
Without frequent repeated feedback,
coaching and consequences, change
Feedback and
doesn’t take place.
Consequences
20%
Courses and readings These provide the raw material of
learning to do something different.
Without some new “to-dos”, nothing
Personal Learning
meaningful can occur. Key resources!
10%
25
Insensitivity to Others
Blocked Learner
Perception of being Arrogant
Not Trusted (failing to follow through on promises,
betraying trust)
Have them study biographies, film, historical events, etc
for these “unintended consequences”
Identify the gap between what I/ Others intend & what
the perceived impact is – to others perception is reality
INNOCULATION…
Learn to identify the unsuccessful behaviors in self
& others
2. Willingness to self-edit
3. Willingness to learn constructive feedback to
others
4. Create a vigilance to self monitor & be aware of
intention vs impact (& asking for feedback)
1.
1. ? Increase LA with ‘experts’ ?
2. ? Increase People Agility with all ?
3. ? Integrate principles of development with Bloom
levels to make mastery clearer ?
4. ? Identify a few competencies involved in enrichment/
immersions/ academic games, etc ?
5. ? Spot-light awareness of toughest competency
development with secondary students ?
A natural evolution with Mental Agility occurs,
but…
Spotlight the balancing additives of People agility,
Change agility & Results (through influencing
others)
Develop self reflection protocols to parallel the
‘automatic’ mach 4 cognitive mechanisms
Reinforce sharing tacit knowledge with each other
to make the learning from experience more
conscious
Give Self Management it’s due importance and
incorporate emotional intelligence as both a
cognitively learned ‘discipline’
And, as an arena for skill building:
Play many roles; relish paradox for the flexibility
Help others succeed
Deal with conflict constructively
Ask & give feedback; take it as data; monitor
Intention/Impact
Identify biases as impediments to Understanding Those
Different )From Me/Us)
Early Strengths
70-20-10
Blind Spots ~ Feedback
Tough Challenges are Developmental
Opportunities in Disguise (VADI)
Make better & better mistakes
Beyond critical thinking & creative thinking, identify
opportunities for practicing:
Dealing with Ambiguity
Learning on the Fly
Perspective
Conflict Management
Dealing with Paradox
Listening (with your 3rd ear)
Personal Learning
Sizing Up People (for ‘gifts differing’, for successful roles,
etc)
Dealing with Ambiguity is the kingpin
Understanding Others
Political Savvy (for effective & respectful
Negotiation)
Beyond own Creativity, reinforce practice of
Innovation Management
Conflict Management/ Composure, etc can aid in
taming (Daniel Goldberg’s ‘hijacking of the
amygdala’)
Compared & Contrasted: G&T with High Potential
Took Closer Look at Learning Agility
Reviewed Other Key Concepts: Competencies & Results
Pondered Development: The Whole Picture
