‘Call them forward to learn, improve and grow, rather than to just get something sorted out.’*

An ancient scripture speaks about focusing on inner beings and hidden hearts, which I take to mean development over performance.

Improving performance helps us to deal with a given situation better, but the situation may be a one-off in what is a random, and some would argue, chaotic universe.

Development helps someone to be more imaginative and adept in the same universe.

Pixar undertakes post-mortems on its films, learning from both the good and the bad (don’t we wish we could get away with just the good things?), with five things to look out for: consolidate what’s been learnt, become a teacher of others outside of the project, don’t let resentment fester (everything is people, i.e., relationships), force reflection, and pay it forward (there’s always a What next?)**

We may occasionally need to focus on performance, but it’s a short game; those who focus on development are playing the longer game.  And those who help others to cross borders, rather than simply identifying them.

(*From Michael Bungay Stanier’s The Coaching Habit.)
(**From Ed Catmull’s Creativity, Inc..)