Experience and Competence

 

Sometimes, we equate things that don't really mean the same thing.  Competence requires experience, but experience does not equate to competence.  I can infer experience from observing competence....but I can not accurately infer competence from a list of positions you've held.

Experienced ≠ Competent

We fall prey to common cognitive biases which lead us to believe that if someone is experienced, they are therefore competent.  It can trip us up when hiring for our teams.

Another aspect of this, and the more pernicious one, is that new professionals may lead themselves to believe that once they have some experience under their belt they will have 'made it'.  Complacency can set in after you've landed a job for instance, because you've tricked yourself into believing that simply holding that position makes you more valuable.

Certifications and Degrees ≠ Competence

The same goes for certifications and degrees.  Many people believe that holding a particular credential implies a level of competence.  Unless the credential is formulated specifically to assess competence, no such correlation is warranted however.  Organizations fall prey by hiring people and screening them on the basis of particular certifications or degrees.  Individuals fall prey by thinking they will have 'made it' once they get a slip of paper certifying them as 'master of the universe'.

Strive for Competence

Do not go after experience or certification as your primary goal.  They will come as a result of your journey towards competence.  

If you make experience, certification or degrees your primary goals, you run the risk of gaining those primary goals without acheiving a true level of competence for yourself.  These window dressings and indications of possible competence should only come about as a result of your journey towards something substantive; real competence.

It doesn't matter if you had the right answer or not; what matters is that you understand why it is wrong or right.  Seek to understand why.

Practical Ways to Target Competence

Here are some ideas you can use immediately to strive for competence.  Add your own ideas in the comments!

• Go beyond the material - In classes, use the standard curriculum as a starting point for your personal inquiry, not the whole of your learning.  Do research projects on topics that interest you, on your own, to quench your curiosity.  The same goes for workshops, e-Learning courses, webinars, and other project management resources.  The fact you are reading this is a testament to your commitment! 
• Ask people to catch you screwing up - Actively poll your team, co-workers, stakeholders, everyone.  Ask probing questions like "I was wondering if you had any ideas for how I could do [whatever] better next time?"  The more specific your question, the better.  If you just ask "How was that?" people will nod their heads and say "fine" almost every time.
• Earning PDUs is not the goal - Look, if you go seek PDUs for the sake of PDUs, you're doing it wrong.  Someone seeking competence in project management has more PDUs than they know what to do with.  Remembering to document them is the hard part.

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