Would you agree that you’re a little slower as you learn something new? That can be frustrating for a highly functioning person. Imagine getting permission and space to be a little slower as you grow a new area of expertise. Would that relieve the stress associated with learning, especially when working in a high-pressure environment in which that new skill will provide long-term value?
Welcome to the concept of the “S-curve”! Charles Handy first introduced this concept as the “sigmoid” curve in the 90’s as an organizational and individual growth module for life cycle thinking. Whitney Johnson described the application of the S-curve in her 2012 Harvard Business Review article “Throw Your Life a Curve” in the learning and development space as a powerful tool used to support the development of new competencies.
From the slow beginnings of learning, we gradually accelerate our learning trajectory and then plateau as we are comfortable with this new skill and execute it with confidence. See the “S” shape forming?
When you’ve identified a new skill that you need to develop, talk with leadership about the space and time you need to journey from the tail of the S-curve, through the middle, to the plateau where you have achieved mastery (and need to start a new S-curve).