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Doing so may be time consuming initially, but it may save you from going over and
over individual parts later. Instead of spending a short time on every subject every
night, you might find it more productive to immerse yourself in individual subjects
for large blocks. Try to relate the subject to things you already know, either by asking

the instructor to help you see connections or by consulting references. Above all,
don’t lose faith in yourself; you will eventually understand the new material, and
understanding how it connects to other topics and disciplines may enable you to
apply it in ways that most sequential thinkers would never dream of.
Gauge-Discover-Reflect
You have already begun to apply the spirit of what we recommend in this third
part of the development of your principles of management survival kit, by gauging
your learning style. The three essential components are (1) gauge—take stock of your
knowledge and capabilities about a topic; (2) discover—learn enough about a topic so
that you can set specific development goals on which you can apply and practice, and
later gauge again your progress toward your set goals; and (3) reflect—step back and
look at the ways you have achieved your goals, take the opportunity to set new ones,
and chronicle this experience and thought process in a daily journal.
Gauge
It is always good to start any self-development process by getting some sense
of where you are. That is why we commence with the gauge stage. For learning and
developing in the area of principles of management, such knowledge is essential. By
analogy, let’s say you want to take a road trip out of town. Even if you have a map
and a compass, it still is pretty important to know exactly where you are starting on
the map!
Your instructor will likely introduce you to a number of different types of
management assessment tools, and you should experiment with them to see how they
work and the degree to which results resonate with your intuition. A word of caution
here—just because some assessment results may clash with your intuition or self-
image, do not immediately assume that they are wrong. Instead, use them as an
opportunity and motivation for further probing (this can fuel your work in the
discovery and reflect stages).
The obvious value of commencing your learning process with some form of
assessment is that you have a clear starting point, in terms of knowledge. This also
means that you now have a basis for comparing your achievement to any relevant
specific goals that you set. Less obvious perhaps is the experience you will gain with
principles of management skill assessments in general. More and more organizations
use some form of assessment in the recruiting, human resources development, and
yes, even promotion processes. Your experience with these different surveys will
give you the confidence to take other surveys and the knowledge needed to show
organizations that you are aware of your areas of strength and development
opportunities.
Discover
The discovery stage of your principles of management survival kit has four
related facets: (1) learn, (2) set goals, (3) apply, and (4) practice. Let us look at each
one in turn.

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