A simple framework to scale your uniquely individual work
Create a working legacy and make it easy for others to make it their own.
A few years ago, Seth Godin published his book Linchpin: How to Become Indispensable at Work. The idea is that it is possible to become so essential to your workplace that you are irreplaceable.
One of the hardest things to do is to share with others how you do what you do.
The downside of being indispensable is that if you step away – if you have to train your successor or if the work needs to scale beyond you – it becomes unclear how to repeat what you accomplished. One of the hardest things to do is to explain to others how you do what you do - and even more, how they might learn to deliver the kinds of outcomes that you do. This is because many of us cobble together a set of tools and approaches to getting a job done that is unique to our own experiences and perspectives. It’s hard to share with others who don’t have similar experiences or outlooks. Many linchpins I work with share that:
They understand that others will want to do things their own way, so a guiding framework becomes the ideal way to make the work and its outcomes easy to repeat.
People harbor their own aspirations and desire to manifest them.
My friend Rob built a valuable and critically acclaimed mentorship service at his company. Now it’s time to scale it beyond him, so Rob is thinking about how he can support new mentors to repeat and scale the kind of success he has had.?
There’s only one Rob. He knows his model is built uniquely from his perspectives and outlooks. And he knows that the map he creates for others must allow them to make their own sense of the terrain. They have to be able to tap into their own creativity and innovation to share the work. It’s a fine balance, and there are no such things as ‘best’ practices. Rob understands that his framework will need to be universally accessible, easily understood, and repeatable and allow room for people to make their own mark.
Its key components are:
Let’s take a closer look at the most important questions the framework needs to address:
领英推荐
1.???? Simple Strategy Guide:
?
2.???? Simple Design Guide:
?
3.???? Simple Operations Guide:
To implement these ideas, start by assessing the journey you take people on and its key steps. Document your methods and the critical activities and resources you use. Choose the format you want to publish your framework in - is it a booklet, cards, a slideshow, a digital tool, or even a GPT? If you manage a program, whether it is directly accountable for revenue or not, design it as if it were a viable business. When designing with others in mind, use widely known open-source tools. This choice makes subsequent learning easier, with lots of examples and content readily available. It will also ensure the framework's accessibility and longevity.
Be a guide and a teacher.
Even when people celebrate what you’ve achieved and pepper you with questions about how you did it, they harbor their own aspirations and desire to manifest them. Enable them to interpret it for themselves and make of it what they will. Encouraging and enabling them is what gives life to teams and organizations. Be a guide and a teacher.
By doing so, you can help others succeed where you have and leave a lasting impact on the organization.
* * *
Is this something you’d like to do for your work?
I can help.
How do you ensure flexibility within your framework to accommodate diverse approaches and individual creativity, John Morley?