Stretch projects

"Everybody stretch for growth and development!"
Photo credit: Tom at HK 2006

Ever hear of the 70-20-10 learning model?  Its principle is the percent of time allocated to any given learning activity: 70% of your learning can come from real-life or on-the-job experiences (aka stretch projects), 20% can come from others like coaches, mentors or sponsors, and the last 10% is in the classroom. Read more.

Companies recognize the value of having people work on stretch projects, both core and non-core to the business, because it gives new skills to their employees giving their companies a competitive advantage. You should always be aware of why you're doing any project or task and create value for yourself while doing them. The key message here is to accept them openly and face them head on, because these small steps will lead to bigger and brighter opportunities!  Here are a few scenarios that will help you recognize if and when you're in a stretch project.

• You've been asked to run a project that will improve your project management skills, when in fact your core job is that of a developer or tester.
• There is a re-organization in your group that certain tasks fall on you that you've never done before.
• You're asked to lead a business turnaround or implement a process change in your group.
• You've just been elected to the NAAAP Board of Directors making policy and funding decisions.

Could you now see what you're doing is fulfilling on some higher goal for the company as well as yourself? If not and wanting additional development, then ask yourself if you're in a rut. If so, a good thing to do is to seek advice from a collegue or mentor 2 levels up. As a guideline, for most professionals it takes roughly 2-3 years, and as quickly as 18 months, to master a given role and once done are encouraged to look for newer, more challenging roles within their organization as they'll have a greater potential in contributing their new skills to contribute to the success of their company or even get promoted.

Thanks for reading and hope to see you back again.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President