Tech Quotient (TQ): A Possible Solution to Upskilling State and Local Government Workers?

"According to Forbes, 84% of digital upskilling initiatives fail."

?Mike Song and Bill Kirwin of Get Control! ? recently released a white paper arguing three reasons digital upskilling initiatives fail. TQ Theory: A Unifying Framework for Knowledge Work describes why digital upskilling efforts often fail:

?1.?????? Digital Skills Gap – "92% of jobs now require digital skills, and 33% of US workers lack them" (Page 2 of the white paper).

2.?????? Engagement Gap – Gallup released their 2023 findings which found only 33% of US workers are engaged at work.

3.?????? Productivity Gap – Digital workers' productivity is lower than non-technical workers', which is a paradox to researchers.

DISCLAIMER

I want to let you know that I am a certified Technology Quotient Aptitude Test (TQAT) coach and a reseller of Get Control! ? training products. Please bear this fact in mind as you read the rest of the article. I intend to provide an independent perspective of the white paper but realize that I mostly agree with Song and Kirwin's suggestions concerning digital upskilling.

DISCLAIMER

Knowledge Worker Neglect Syndrome

Song and Kirwin posit four flaws that doom digital upskilling efforts:

1.?????? The K-Worker's Role is Not Clear.

2.?????? Overlooking Universal Patterns to Knowledge Work.

3.?????? Lack of Strategic Models to Navigate through Digital Tasks.

4.?????? Inability to Measure Digital Proficiency (DX) Accurately.

Taken together, the four flaws add up to the Knowledge Worker Neglect Syndrome (KWNS), in which the knowledge worker's "unique perspective, role, and sentiments are often disregarded or neglected in the broader conversation" (page 3 of the white paper). So, how do we overcome KWNS?

TQ Theory – New Training Paradigm

TQ Theory addresses the high failure rate in Digital Transformation (DX) initiatives by introducing fundamental design principles for effective and sustainable organizational change. Central to this approach is making digital concepts more accessible through concrete analogies and introducing "Zip!" - quick, impactful tech tips that demonstrate immediate personal benefits to engage participants from the start.

The theory also emphasizes engagement, the E-Factor, which involves creating an enjoyable and exciting training environment, fostering a grassroots revolution in DX rather than a top-down directive. Additionally, it highlights the importance of bridging the gap between HR's people-centric approach and IT's technical focus, ensuring a balanced and holistic learning experience.

The theory advocates viewing DX as an engaging journey, aligning with Adult Learning Principles by promoting 'Techsploration,' or exploring technology as an adventure. Measurement is another critical element, deemed essential for tracking progress and proving ROI, encapsulated in the mantra "measure or fail."

TQ Theory also suggests a strategic focus shift in DX initiatives, prioritizing universal technologies like MS 365 over job-specific systems to lay a foundational understanding, facilitating the exploration of more specialized digital tools. This comprehensive approach aims to revolutionize how organizations undertake digital transformation, making it more effective, relatable, and sustainable.

Intellectual Quotient (IQ) + Emotional Quotient (EQ) + Technical Quotient (TQ)

"K-workers and L&D teams often compartmentalize digital skills when they are now deeply intertwined with IQ and EQ. For example, a manager with poor digital organization skills (TQ) will struggle to find documents essential for completing a critical job-specific task (IQ) and may wrongly blame a direct report (EQ)" (page 10 of the white paper).

Digital upskilling must include critical thinking, organizational skills, and emotional intelligence training to realize the benefits of digital upskilling training fully.

Decision Factories! Not Knowledge Factories!

And this is where I disagree with Song and Kirwin's white paper. They refer to the knowledge workers' (K-workers) workplace as knowledge factories. K-workers take data and information in to produce knowledge in the knowledge factories. The problem with the knowledge factories model is that it views knowledge as the ultimate purpose of knowledge work.

No. The decisions that K-workers make are the ultimate purpose of their work.

As Roger Martin observes, knowledge workers create decisions as their work output. Song and Kirwin also point out that "[t]he primary purpose of K-work is Better Decision-Making (BDM) – to improve outcomes and enhance quality of life" (page 13 of the white paper). The difference between seeing the K-worker's workplace as a decision factory instead of a knowledge factory may seem minor. However, focusing on the quality of decisions instead of the quality of knowledge better aligns with the four universal functions of knowledge work.

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Build Digital Upskilling Training Around the Four Universal Functions of Knowledge Work

"K-work consists of communication, collaboration, organization, and analysis to achieve better decision-making, which leads to improved outcomes and quality of life" (page 15 of the white paper).

Song and Kirwin researched over 600,000 knowledge workers for over two decades to discover their work's universal patterns. Song and Kirwin found four foundational functions standard to all knowledge work.

1.?????? "Communication: The cornerstone of K-work, encompassing the vast array of digital interactions that K-workers navigate daily. This section is best broken down into tech tips that save time and effective communication concepts within tools like Outlook, OneNote, and Teams.

2.?????? Collaboration: The collaborative efforts that leverage digital platforms and tools, underscoring the communal aspect of K-work. Here, we explore virtual and live meeting dynamics, working on shared documents, and managing group projects via tools like Microsoft Planner and Teams.

3.?????? Organization: The crucial skill of bringing order to the digital maze of information and data that K-workers encounter. Here, we introduce universal best practices for organizing, prioritizing, searching, and managing all stored items.

4.?????? Analysis: The critical function of interpreting and understanding information to derive actionable insights. Here, we advance data literacy concepts and guidelines for arriving at conclusions via honest, defendable logic and analysis" (page 14 of the white paper).

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Making Digital Upskilling Work

TQ Theory helps organizations better understand what knowledge workers do and how to improve their work. Please focus on the four foundational functions in developing training that will help K-workers enhance the quality of their decisions. Better decisions will ultimately elevate their organizations' effectiveness and efficiency. Song and Kirwin have made an essential contribution to helping increase the value of knowledge work while alleviating the Knowledge Worker Neglect Syndrome (KWNS).