Skill Balancing FAQ!

What is Skill Balancing?

Skill Balancing is the process of understanding and adjusting skills to maximize fun. According to Dr. Mihaly Szikszentmihaly, you can experience "flow" when tasks match skills. Skill Balancing uses this principle to maximize fun. For work, this is done using skill curves. For school, this can be done with homework diagrams.

What is a homework diagram?

A homework diagram shows how your homework hours relate to your expected grades. In school, you tend to enjoy classes in which you do well. That requires PRACTICE! You get practice by doing homework. Because homework hours are limited, you need to develop a strategy to make the best use of your homework hours. A homework diagram helps you to develop this strategy.

What does a typical homework diagram look like?

A typical homework diagram shows homework hours on the vertical axis and expected grades on the horizontal axis. For all classes, one can expect an "F" with 0 homework hours. Assuming an average of 3 homework hours for every class hour (which may be typical for college classes) you may expect to get a "C" in one class, a "B" in another class and an "A" in a third class. So, there are three lines drawn from the "F" at 0 to each of these three classes at 3 homework hours. From there, you might make adjustments to homework hours to maximize grades.

What is a skill curve?

A skill curve shows the distribution of the skill of your team and how much fun one can expect at each level of skill from Beginner to Expert. It comes from the distribution of tasks and the distribution of skills in your team. Where skills tend to match tasks, more fun is likely.

What does a typical skill curve look like?

A typical skill curve compares a flat distribution of tasks against a normal (or "Bell curve") distribution of skills. Not surprisingly, this typical curve shows that Beginners and Experts tend to be overworked. Also, Average people tend to be underutilized or bored, suffering from "Parkinson's Law". Because people that are Beginners, Average and Experts tend to not have fun, most people think that it is just not possible to have fun at work.

Who has fun at school?

Not surprisingly, students that do well in class tend to have the most fun. The trick with Skill Balancing is to adjust your skills to do the best in the most classes. You might, for example, limit the number of homework hours in a class where you already expect to earn an "A" grade. Instead, you might use extra homework hours to improve grades in a "B" class.

Who has fun at work?

Surprisingly, in this typical situation the people who are in Below Average and Above Average skill ranges often have fun! This is because it tends to be easier to match skills with tasks in these ranges. In these ranges, one tends to be neither underutilized nor overworked.

How does Skill Balancing help?

Skill Balancing helps you to understand your situation and to adjust your skills so that you can maximize fun. Typically at work, this means figuring out how to move some skills into Below Average and some skills into Above Average. At school, this means making adjustments to your attitude, developing learning skills and adjusting homework hours to maximize gradepoint. Skill Balancing involves using good controls to do all of this.

What is a good control?

A good control is anything that helps push the overall skill of your team or class forward. A bad control is anything that keeps the group from moving forward. Good controls are necessary so that your group can compete and survive.

What are some examples of good and bad controls at work?

One typical bad control is to hoard information, keeping your other team members from learning. Other bad controls include deceit, laziness and so forth. Bad controls are limitless. Good controls include training others, sharing information, sharing workloads and encouraging others to improve in skills of importance to the team.

Can you summarize the Skill Balancing process at work?

Sure! Pick one of your skills.
Develop a skill curve for that skill in your team.
Are you having fun with this skill? If so, then you are done. Have fun!
Are you underutilized? If so, you are probably Average. Seek Expert training.
If you are overworked, are you more or less skilled than your peers?
If less skilled, then you are a Beginner. Seek general training.
If more skilled, then you are an Expert. Find someone Average to train and share the load. "Engineer your own obsolescence!"
Repeat this process for all of your skills.

Is it possible to move from Below Average to Above Average while maximizing fun at work?

Yes. You can do this with tunneling, which happens in two phases. The first phase of tunneling involves supplementing your regular work with free work and simulation while getting general training. Once you reach Average skill, the second phase involves gradually increasing normal work while getting Expert training.

Can Skill Balancing help you in other situations?

Absolutely! If you are unemployed, use a tunneling strategy to maintain fun. If you are a parent and the only one available to do the work, focus on developing useful skills that you can enjoy, allowing the "afterglow of fun" help you during the day. If the distribution of skills and tasks is not typical, adjust your skill curve so that you can see where you need to change skills to maximize fun.

Tell me more about your book, "Skill Balancing: How to Enjoy Work!"

More Skill Balancing tips as well as other examples of bad controls are discussed in my award-winning book, "Skill Balancing: How to Enjoy Work!" For example, with Skill Balancing you can learn how to avoid the pitfalls of the Peter Principle, how to position yourself for new opportunities and how to have greater confidence in starting a new job or other challenge. Other examples of bad controls discussed in the book include Machiavellian controls, the Catt Concept, incompetence and more.

"Skill Balancing: How to Enjoy Work!" is available at Amazon. You can also go to www.skillbalancing.com for a pointer to the book including sample pages. You can also sign up for the free newsletter and get information about the Skill Balancing seminar.

So, what is next?

"Skill Balancing: How to Enjoy School!" was recently completed and should be available for ordering online very soon. There will be a formal announcement in the May Skill Balancing newsletter. It's targeted towards children 12 to 18, the same ages as my own kids. After that, I intend to do a book on Skill Balancing for caregivers, based on my experiences in caring for my family after the onset of my wife's brain tumor.

What's your purpose?

I want to make Skill Balancing ubiquitous in the workplace and elsewhere. Eventually, people will think "of course!" when it comes to Skill Balancing.

Do you plan to get rich and famous through promoting Skill Balancing?

Nope! In fact, I would prefer to be rich and anonymous! Skill Balancing has been in development for more than a decade. I started doing seminars about it when problems obvious to me were not obvious to others. To help business run smoothly and be fun, I find I need to preach Skill Balancing everywhere I go. I won't mind retiring from preaching someday! After all, it's doing the actual WORK that floats my boat! The only way I make any money with this so far is through book sales.

What scientific basis do you have for Skill Balancing?

Hey, read my book! There is some science behind it. But, the main support for it comes from the wisdom and knowledge of literally hundreds of engineers and other professionals over decades.

Skill Balancing doesn't work for me!

That's not a question! But, I'll answer it anyway. There are lots of things that can mess up having fun at work. The only way you will be convinced of the truths in Skill Balancing will be to learn it, try it and practice what you learn. It works.

Is it just for engineers and students?

Skill Balancing is for everyone! It's just that I'm more familiar with engineering and academia, so that's what I write about most. We are all more than just one thing. We have lots of skills. I write what I know about and that extends beyond engineering. Like you, there's more to what I am than my job!

Why don't you advertise more?

Actually, I've spent thousands of dollars on advertising already. But, Skill Balancing has had the greatest success through word of mouth as well as enthusiastic support from great, intelligent people. I am doing promotions and such. I'll do more. But, I don't have much time and don't like complicated ads and pop-ups. I like to keep things simple in this website. I figure my readers feel the same way.

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