When you try to improve your athletic abilities (e.g., playing tennis, swimming), how do you go about it? There are quite a few options, including observing how those who are best-in-class perform. When we learn from others, we gain from their insights without having to endure the mistakes they may have gone through to reach their expertise. The same tactic works for teams trying to improve their collective skill sets. Why should businesses be any different?

According to Webster’s, to improve means “to enhance in value or quality; make better.” Improvement implies changing the way something is normally done so as to make the outcome better.

To improve, athletes can try multiple approaches, including:
• Learning from what others before them have done
• Investing in a coach who can guide them and build on their strengths

Likewise, organizations can do the same by:
• Investing in individual employees by encouraging them to go “outside” and bring back what they learn from others
• Investing in an outside resource to transfer knowledge, with the ultimate goal of achieving independent competence in the skill

 …