Understanding the Effect of Disruptive “Circuit-Breaker Skills” for Role Transitions

Psychologist Robin Hogarth framed the term Kind Learning environment. This term simply means that in some tasks, patterns emerge repeatedly, and one can reach enormous consistency even in highly complex tasks.  (For example, a surgeon working on a specific surgery repeatedly – even though it is a complex area of expertise, one can excel at it due to repeated learning).  A digital environment is a bit different.  As an employee, one has to innovate in what Hogarth would call a “Wicked environment.” It simply means that while the task complexity may eventually get lower, the path to reach that state may not be apparent or will require additional new learning.  This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as the “Circuit Breaker” effect.  For example, a Robotic Process Automation may perform an automation task with ease, but getting there requires learning a new skill and drawing experiences from multiple new areas.