Why One-Size-Fits-All Leadership Development Doesn’t Work

One of Steve Jobs’ quirks was that he rejected using focus groups because he believed “people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” It’s a quotation that sums up the trust-your-instincts approach of one of the greatest CEOs of our time. But is it a brilliant leadership innovation that we should teach to everyone, or foolhardy arrogance Jobs was lucky didn’t come back to bite him?

On the surface, given iPad, iPod and iPhone success, it looks like genius insight from which all leaders can learn. But probe a little deeper and you realize the true answer is both more banal and more revolutionary and has massive import for all in the learning and development world.

The true answer is it depends on who you are. Some people are wired to have the picture of what they want to build in their heads. They mull it over, tweak it, adjust it and refine it without ever consulting anybody. Others, however, have a different creative process. They need input from the regular world as grist for their creative mill. Sam Walton of Walmart, for example, used to make a point of being in his stores every Friday to see what customers were doing and what they wanted. He called it quick market intelligence.

A technique that works for one person does not necessarily work for another. Not all sales people, service professionals and managers work the same way as their peers. In every position we see diversity of method and technique.

The most cutting-edge companies are embracing this diversity in the way they interact with their customers. Facebook targets ads based on the information users provide in their profiles, and even lets them rate ads or indicate why they don’t like them. The first thing Netflix asks users to do when they sign up is rate movies so it can recommend what they might like. Famously, it created a contest with a $1 million prize to anyone who could improve its recommendation engine by 10 percent.

What if we took the same ingenuity and effort that we use to tailor services for our customers and put it into customizing learning and development for our internal team members? Is there a way to filter all our training content to the unique strengths and style of the individual?