Professional Competency or Complacency: Moving Beyond the OK Plateau

1. 2012 NASPA CONFERENCE March 13, 2012 Phoenix, Arizona Professional Competency or Complacency: Moving Beyond the OK Plateau Presented by Norm Roberts Sarah Westerberg Jonathan Kau Brigham Young University Dean of Students Office

2. Professional Competency or Complacency? • Student Affairs’ Aspirational Climate • Human Performance & the “OK Plateau” • Functional Fixedness • Expectations in Everyday Performance – How are we doing and how does this matter? • Moving beyond the “OK Plateau” • Experience as individuals, with colleagues • Strategies and Interventions

3. The Aspirational Climate Student Affairs

4. Aspirational Expressions Ignite Leadership Influence Change “Now is the time to expand the capacity of our institutions, our colleagues, and ourselves.” “We are challenged to alter the way we approach our work, if we are to stay relevant in a changing environment.” Larry D. Roper 2012 NASPA Conference chair

5. Aspirsational Expressions: • The Purpose of Student Affairs • NASPA Competency Areas • The organizations and philosophies under which we work • When ambitions reach the OK Plateau

6. Josh Foer 2006 National Memory Champion, author of Moonwalking with Einstein Moving Beyond the OK Plateau

7. Human Performance and the OK Plateau Aspiration v. Reality

8. Fitts & Posner’s Three Stage Model New behaviors become routine and patterns. Errors begin to reduce. Process become autonomous; rate of performance increases. Attempt to understand task. Patchwork of old habits & new routines

9. Three Stage Model & Cognitive Skills Study problems with feedback. Acquire heuristics. Solve problems without conceptual errors. Improve speed & accuracy Understand without application. Information acquisition.

10. Fitts & Posner Observations • To improve performance, motivation, feedback and opportunities for improvement must exist. • Hypothesis of Par: • People tend to set a standard of excellence & are content to meet but not exceed the standard. • The aspiration level is habitually set below the level one is capable of achieving.

12. Becoming Experts? • “Most individuals who start as active professionals…increase their performance for a limited time until they reach an acceptable level.” • “Once performance is autonomous individuals no longer attempt…improvements… typically [leading] to a stable plateau of performance…”

13. Daniel Pink Video Segment Functional Fixedness

14. How are we doing and how does this matter? Performance expectations

15. Roger Bannister May 6, 1954 Moving Beyond the OK Plateau

16. Moving Beyond the OK Plateau Avoiding complacency and routine

17. SPLAT Goal • Seek • Persistent • Learning over • Autonomous • Tendencies Moving Beyond the OK Plateau

18. Your Experiences? • Igniting Leadership Influencing Change • Remaining motivated • Practical opportunities for engagement • Intellectual Curiosity • Problem Solving Mentality • Fostering an ethic of progress

19. Mentoring, Supervision and Coaching • Encourage mentoring and coaching by colleagues within Student Affairs • Carrot and stick style supervision • Encourage informal coaching Moving Beyond the OK Plateau

20. Job Description and Performance Review • Read job description regularly • Add detail to job descriptions • Use Annual Performance Review as an opportunity to nurture and reflect • Read Annual Performance Review report regularly throughout the year • Conduct self assessment of own work behaviors and practices on regular basis • Openly discuss career development opportunities Moving Beyond the OK Plateau

21. Reading and Exploration of Literature • Identify the “best books” • Internalize ideas from the “best books” • Establish a reading schedule • Make reading articles on professional practice and issues an expectation rather than an extra, e.g. departmental reading list • Apply literature to real work • Support staff in quest for higher degrees/training Moving Beyond the OK Plateau

22. Professional Organizations and Conference Presentations • Allow yourself to be inspired by others • Be willing to share ideas and move beyond comfort zone • Always seek to be a leader in your field

23. NASPA Competencies • Understand professional standards and how your work measures up • Implement institutional norms for achieving NASPA competencies • Validate/reward those who achieve NASPA competency

24. “No service that matters can be given over a lifetime by those who stop learning. A great teacher is always studying. …the workplace in every industry is changing so rapidly that what we know today will not be enough for tomorrow. “Our education must never stop.” President Henry B. Eyring Education for Real Life Moving Beyond the OK Plateau