Imagine building a person out of those big, colorful LEGO blocks designed for toddlers. You might use blue blocks for the legs, red blocks for the body, and yellow blocks for the arms. You could add a few more blocks to make the person taller, change the arrangement to make them look different, or add something new that gives them another capability.
It’s a simple picture, but I think it’s a useful way to think about the people who work in our businesses. Every person is made up of a collection of pieces. Some of those pieces are part of who they are, some represent things they’ve learned along the way, and others are pieces they haven’t acquired yet. When someone comes to work for us, they bring their entire collection of LEGOs, not just the handful we were looking for when we hired them.
Some LEGOs Are Part of Who We Are
Think about the people you know. Some seem to get energy from being around other people. They love conversations, enjoy meeting strangers, and can spend an entire day interacting with customers without feeling particularly drained. Other people would be perfectly happy if they could go through the day without having to talk to anyone at all.
Some people are naturally bubbly and outgoing. Others are quiet and reserved. Some enjoy having a predictable routine, while others thrive on variety and change. Some love solving complicated problems independently, while others do their best thinking when they’re collaborating with a group. None of those characteristics automatically makes someone a better employee. They simply influence the kinds of work and environments in which a person is likely to be comfortable and successful.
While people can learn to behave differently in particular situations, that doesn’t necessarily change what comes naturally to them. Someone who prefers working independently can learn to provide excellent customer service. A naturally outgoing person can learn to concentrate on detailed work that requires long periods of quiet attention. But being capable of doing something doesn’t necessarily mean the person enjoys doing it or wants to spend forty hours a week doing it.
Just Because Someone Can Do It Doesn’t Mean They Should
Imagine you have an employee who’s exceptionally good at handling difficult customer conversations. She’s patient, professional, and knows how to calm people down. Whenever a customer is upset, everyone turns to her because they know she’ll handle the situation well.
From management’s perspective, this seems like a wonderful arrangement. She’s good at the work, customers are satisfied, and problems get resolved. But what if she hates doing it? What if those conversations leave her exhausted, and every time someone asks her to handle another unhappy customer, she dreads what’s coming?
Her ability to perform the task doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for her. If we keep giving her more of that responsibility simply because she’s good at it, we may eventually turn a capable, engaged employee into someone who doesn’t want to come to work. Even worse, she might start looking for a different job.
We need to recognize the difference between what someone can do, what they’re good at doing, and what they actually enjoy doing. Those three things frequently overlap, but they aren’t necessarily the same.
That doesn’t mean every employee will love every responsibility. Every job includes tasks that aren’t particularly enjoyable. But when we’re making decisions about how to use someone’s abilities, we should consider whether we’re asking them to spend most of their time doing work that fits the person they are. Otherwise, we may be setting them up for frustration even when they’re technically successful.
What Other LEGOs Did They Bring?
When we hire someone, we usually have a specific collection of skills and abilities in mind. We need someone who can get a particular kind of work done. We look for those pieces, find someone who has them, and put that person to work. But what about all the other pieces they brought with them?
Perhaps your receptionist has a remarkable ability to organize complicated projects. Maybe the employee who handles inventory has a talent for creating presentations. Your bookkeeper might have years of experience coordinating community events, or someone on your production team might be exceptionally good at teaching other people how to do things. Those abilities don’t disappear just because they weren’t part of the position you hired the person to fill.
Sometimes we don’t know those pieces exist because we’ve never taken the time to find out. We get accustomed to thinking of people in terms of their job titles. Sarah is the receptionist. Robert handles inventory. Michelle works in customer service. We know what they’re responsible for, but we may know very little about the other skills, interests, and experiences that make up who they are. That can mean overlooking capabilities that would be genuinely useful to the business.
It doesn’t mean every hobby or personal interest needs to become another job responsibility. Someone who loves photography shouldn’t automatically become the company’s photographer. But if that person enjoys photography, has developed considerable skill, and would welcome an opportunity to use it professionally, wouldn’t it be useful to know?
The more we understand about the people who work for us, the more possibilities we can recognize.
You Can Add More LEGOs
Here’s another thing I love about this analogy: nobody shows up with a completed collection of blocks. We all continue learning, developing, and acquiring new capabilities throughout our lives. The person you hired three years ago may have skills today that they didn’t possess when they joined your organization, and they may be capable of learning things neither of you considered at the time.
Think about buying a LEGO castle set and then adding a tower set. You haven’t just gained the ability to build a tower. You’ve expanded the collection of pieces available for everything you might want to create.
Employee development works much the same way. When someone learns a new software program, develops project management skills, or becomes capable of performing a new technical task, they gain one or more additional blocks. When they learn to communicate more effectively, solve problems independently, or coordinate work with others, they expand what they’re capable of contributing.
Of course, not every block is equally easy to add. Teaching someone to use a particular computer program is generally much more straightforward than helping them develop the interpersonal judgment required to navigate difficult relationships. That doesn’t mean people can’t grow in those areas. They can, and they do. But development works best when we understand what we’re trying to develop and how it relates to the person we’re working with.
We also need to recognize that adding more blocks isn’t always the right answer. If someone genuinely dislikes spending their day interacting with customers, teaching them additional customer service techniques may improve their performance without making the work any more enjoyable. The better opportunity may be to recognize that their existing strengths would be more valuable in a different kind of responsibility.
On the other hand, someone who loves working with customers but lacks a particular technical skill may be an excellent candidate for training. They already bring characteristics that fit the work, and the missing capability may be something we can help them acquire.
And those new capabilities don’t have to be limited to the responsibilities employees currently hold. We often approach training by asking what someone needs to learn to perform their existing job better. That’s important, but it isn’t the only reason to develop employees.
What if we also asked what they’re interested in learning? What strengths would they like to develop? What additional responsibilities might they enjoy? What capabilities would make the organization stronger if more than one person possessed them?
Those conversations can reveal opportunities that aren’t apparent when we focus exclusively on the requirements of someone’s current position. They also recognize that employees aren’t static. People grow, interests change, and capabilities expand. The employee who was a perfect fit for one set of responsibilities several years ago may be ready for something different today.
The people who work for you aren’t just the LEGOs you hired them for. They’re the entire collection, including the pieces you haven’t discovered and the ones they haven’t added yet.
How well do you really know the LEGOs your employees bring to work?
