recently visited my birthplace, Sardegna, Italy, to visit family and friends, but also to tour and travel the island with my son. Having left Italy in my mid-20s, I didn’t really have the opportunity to explore the amazing places I had often read about.  

It's been a few years since I've been back, and over these years, I stayed in touch with family and friends speaking Italian with them on a frequent, almost daily basis. When I took this most recent trip, I was confident I would be able to converse with the locals just as well as with my family and friends. Then reality hit. I quickly realized speaking Italian during my casual interactions with strangers, hotel hosts, and store owners was far more challenging than I thought it would be. I could easily speak with my friends but not with strangers. Then, after a few days went by, it clicked and I could speak with everyone just the same.  

Learning a language is very much like trying to engage in or collaborate with others in problem solving and improvement work. What it takes to make work better involves developing a shared terminology (know what) and shared purpose (know why), leaning on others for help (know how), and continuously trying (practice) before it finally clicks (adoption). 

Know what – Building your baseline knowledge 

We think we know what we are saying, but our words initially aren’t quite effective in expressing our thoughts. That’s ok. Anyone that has studied problem solving, QA, Lean, or Six Sigma knows that the reason why there are so many methodologies is because different people use different words to illustrate similar concepts. No one has the perfect words anyways. Familiarizing yourself with the words, their meaning, and using them to communicate with each other to build shared understanding is most important. Be patient with those that are speaking or listening. Building your baseline knowledge is about staying curious. 

Know how – Be prepared to struggle and ask for help 

I am not ashamed to admit that when I had trouble explaining something, I would ask my friends for better ways to communicate my thoughts so I could do better next time. When engaging in problem solving there are experts all around us who make an effort to learn by doing and frequently help others by sharing their lessons learned. Leveraging other’s experiences is a smart use of time, because it can streamline your own learning process. Look to others and ask for help. 

Practice – Be patient and kind with yourself and keep trying  

It's easy to get frustrated. Something that bothers me is that I stutter quite a bit when I speak Italian, but not when I speak English. When we are communicating our vision for a change or discussing a problem statement, we are sometimes going to get things wrong.

Be patient and kind to yourself and remember that at least you are working on this, and only through practice you get better.

Case studies or courses only provide insights on a framework, but by doing the work you gain experience, so keep going. 

Adoption – You will know when it clicks  

For those around you, it will be clear that a transformation has happened. You may start by asking more frequently “if a step is value added” or “why something is happening” instead of jumping to solutions. Or, you may find yourself putting up sticky notes on a wall to help you visually frame a process. At this point, you'll know you’ve got it. 

This happens because of practice, and it’s the result of staying engaged in problem solving or improvement despite how difficult it may be at first. And then, without even realizing it, you will be a pro at it, and will want to help others get there too.