In addition to doing your job well, you will not advance unless you take it upon yourself to get better at your craft. Look for gaps in your knowledge and cultivate missing pieces. Continuously learn to increase your skill; others won’t. Blueprinting is growing your (and your firm’s) Institutional Knowledge.
Simple tasks include subscribing to industry-specific newsletters, websites and magazines. Another path is to ascertain unfamiliar documents or reports and take time to learn them. At least putting together a list of questions or observations for discussion will assist in understanding them. A warning – these tasks are simple – but are just the first steps at distinguishing yourself.
The name of this concept stems from my recommendation for those in the building trade to procure blueprints to their projects. Take them home, and become familiar with them. Such an exercise should not take more than a few hours but will set yourself apart. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
A further step may be to shadow a colleague or simply have a call or lunch with them. Such interaction will foster new relationships and signal to them – and others that take notice – that you are interested in more aspects of the business than the limitations of your cubicle.
More extreme steps would be to take courses and/or earn a degree in a related field. The accreditation earned from intensive study will be noticed. Your network will expand greatly in case other opportunities arise.
Blueprinting further separates you from your peers, in addition to excelling at your role. The effort you expend will be rewarded as more potential for advancement materializes.