Reactions to Guidelines and Frameworks for Personal Development

There has been a lot of talk over the past week or two in the UK about the government's new five a day parenting guidelines.

A positive article from the BBC can be found here whilst a more scathing one from The Telegraph can be found here.

This has sparked a great debate about whether people should be told or even helped in the 'right' way to raise their child. On one side, the argument is that parents who don't know should be helped through guidelines and education. On the other, parents should be left to do the right thing for their child rather than a one size fits all approach.

Intervention

A lot of the debate is around the word 'intervention' (which I particularly dislike, but seems to have become the word of choice in training and development circles).

The 5 a day proponents say that this is not intervention anyway, merely proportional help and that without it further intervention may be inevitable later in life (schooling/social/criminal etc problems) if the parent fails in the role. The opponents clearly don't agree with intervention at an early stage.

So I guess the question is what does the parent need and how best to identify and then satisfy that development need. This same situation appears in the workplace all the time.

How do you help people to understand something that they might not currently even have awareness of?  Intervention is only intervention (assuming the negative connotation) when it be forced upon a person who already has awareness and have chosen to either develop in a certain and different way, or not at all, but with a rationale behind their choice.

Just a reference point?

I honestly can't see why guidance and a framework aren't a great place to start. Those with awareness can find their place in that framework and develop from there. Those with no awareness might just have their eyes opened to the possibility and pathway to develop. Surely that's a win-win and doesn't sound like a 'one size fits all' at all.

Those ready to fight it seem to want to fight whether it's right or not, whether it's needed or not.  They don't seem open to the idea that everyone can improve and be ready to ask themselves "where am I in this framework and do I need to do something to develop". Perhaps it's a fear thing, to analyse yourself.  Blame the framework, rather than focus on themselves and how best to use the information to their advantage.

I'm sure that you see this type of behaviour in the workplace all the time. People who think their way is the right way without referencing outside influences or new ideas. You must constantly challenge this with new ideas and external reference points. Challenge your team to be unafraid to constantly reassess.  The answer might be that they are in the right place already, but it's good to check.

There is nothing to fear and everything to gain. Try and help them understand that.

Please see my website at www.managingforthefirsttime.com for more techniques, tips and advice on this topic and others.