职场人士也要操练业务

    不过，虽然训练赛有其用途，但《完美练习》（Practice Perfect ）的作者们却认为，常规演练更加有效。常规演练针对某一项技能，要求以一种夸张的方式不断重复。这样一来，人们就可以专注某项具体的技能。比如，假如要练习的是如何回答不高兴的客户提出的问题，而不是主持一整场会议。每次模拟意外的客户投诉后，你会得到反馈，之后再结合反馈重复进行练习。

    给这种常规演练命名，可以培养团队的友情，也能迅速让人们了解应该准备哪些内容。例如，回答客户怀有敌意的问题，可以命名为“严苛考验”练习。比如，可以在员工会议中间调节一下，让两位团队成员进行“严苛考验”练习。通过这样的小练习，可以让你的人在面对真正不满的客户时，不会被吓倒。

    3. 让练习日常化

    任何机构在建立一种练习的文化时，时间似乎是最大的障碍。在忙碌的日常生活中，没有人愿意在排得满满的日程中，再加上一条。然而，练习能够带来超常的收益。一位伟大的音乐家一旦停止练习，很快就会变得不再伟大。而一家不注重追求卓越的公司，终究会被一家不甘心停滞不前的公司超越。凯蒂·耶兹称：“人们渴望能有练习的机会。一旦你开始发动人们去练习，他们就会加倍练习，因为他们希望不断进步。”不必专门拿出一个小时的时间来练习，而是要尽量把练习结合到现有的活动和对话当中。率先垂范。主持一场会议或进行一次谈判后，向下属征求反馈意见。首先要列出哪些地方出了错。借此让下属们明白，你期望得到的是关键性的反馈。

    4. 聘用愿意练习的员工。

    最后，创建不断提高的文化意味着聘用那些愿意自我提高的人。面试过程中，尝试给出反馈，看看面试人员的反应。赖莫夫说：“假设我们面试两个人，其中一位是4号（共10人）。他对学习充满了渴望，迫切想要得到反馈，而且在面试过程中会将反馈记录下来；而另外一位是8号，虽然非常优秀，但却自命不凡。我们最终会录用4号，因为我们认为不出18个月，4号就会超过8号，同时还能带动许多人。”

    正如赖莫夫·沃雷和耶兹在《完美练习》中所写，他们发现，表现最佳的员工必然是“那些持续奋斗、成长和发展的人。换句话说，他们一直在练习。”

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    But while scrimmages have their place, the Practice Perfect authors point to evidence that drills are more effective. Drills isolate a skill and call for its repetition in a distorted form so you can focus on a specific skill. Rather than run a whole meeting, you practice answering questions from a clearly unhappy client. After each iteration of a mock unexpected client interjection, you get feedback, and repeat the iteration incorporating the feedback.

    Naming such drills creates both camaraderie within your team, and a shorthand way of letting people know, quickly, what to prepare for. Answering hostile client questions, for instance, might become known as "the gauntlet" drill. Halfway through a staff meeting, to shake things up, you might call on two people to do the gauntlet drill -- a little way to squeeze in practice before people face down a disgruntled client for real.

    3. Make practice a daily thing

    Time is likely the biggest obstacle to implementing a culture of practice in any organization. In the firefight of daily life, no one wants to add one more thing to the to-do list. But practice has outsized returns. A great musician who ceased practicing would soon cease to be great, and an organization that does not focus on getting better will be outperformed by an organization not willing to stand still. "People crave it," says Katie Yezzi of practice. "Once you start doing it people want to do it more. They want to get better at their jobs."

    Rather than carving out an hour for practice, incorporate it, as much as possible, into existing events and conversations. Model it yourself. Ask for feedback on how you ran a meeting or conducted a negotiation, and start by listing something you did wrong, to show people who report to you that critical feedback is expected.

    4. Hire people who want to practice

    Ultimately, creating a culture of improvement means hiring people who want to improve. Try giving feedback during an interview and see how a person responds. "If we interview two people and one is a 4 [out of 10] but is hungry to learn and eager for feedback, and is writing down feedback during the interview session, and the other is good -- an 8 -- but smug, we'll take the 4 on the assumption they'll pass the 8 in 18 months and take a lot of people with them," says Lemov.

    As Lemov, Woolway, and Yezzi write in Practice Perfect, they've found that the top performers are inevitably "those who continue to strive, grow, and develop -- in other words, they continue to practice."