Building competence
The more skilled and experienced we are, the better able we are to find solutions to problems and use our skills to design and implement solutions. On this page, we explore:
- the process of becoming skilled in itself, and how that can affect our wellbeing
- small ways we can enhance our creativity and problem-solving ability
- develop skills around handling difficult conversations
Capacity for creativity and problem solving
Our creativity enables us to find our way out of difficult situations and challenges. What can we do to feed our thinking capacity and creativity?
Related resources and links
- Time to think – book and website giving the elements needed to create a thinking environment by Nancy Kline
- 12-week programme to develop your Creativity. Book: The Artists Way
- Short article: The power of freewriting
- A useful blog on the background of mind mapping and how to create a mind map: Mind-mapping for creativity
- A technique for finding new perspectives on a problem or decision: De Bono’s thinking hats
- A TED talk by Professor Adam Grant: The link between procrastination and creativity
- Harvard Business Review: The link between meditation and creativity
Recognise where you are in the learning process
Why being new, and getting better at something doesn’t always feel great, but that’s part of the process.
Related resources and links
- Dr Brene Brown’s podcast on the emotions of doing something for the first time (recorded during the early stages of COVID lockdown)
- Conscious competence model of learning
Planning difficult conversations
An introduction to a step by step process to help you plan an important or difficult conversation.
Related resources and links
- Watch the video on emotions of difficult conversations (in our section on developing emotional intelligence)
- Watch the video on your personal board of directors (in our section on networks)
- Difficult conversations planner – Ten questions to plan a challenging or feedback conversation (doc)
- Edinburgh university guide for researchers on managing difficult conversations
- Getting through difficult conversations
- Book: Difficult Conversations: How To Discuss What Matters Most
- Pinker / RSA Animate - Language as a Window into Human Nature
- Building rapport
Previous and next
Go back to the previous section: Developing emotional intelligence
Go to the next section: Coping skills