How is the LDMA different from other succession planning or talent development assessments?

There are a number of differences between Lectica’s assessments and conventional succession planning or talent development assessments.

Like IQ tests, the LDMA measures mental ability, but unlike IQ:

1. We measure development on a lifespan scale. This makes it possible to measure growth over time, charting individual growth trajectories. Growth trajectories make it possible to predict which roles an individual is likely to be ready for at specific points in the future. IQ cannot be used to predict growth in this way.
2. We measure “ability in context.” Instead of measuring how well people can solve abstract problems that are divorced from the workplace context, we directly measure exactly what employers care about — how well people are likely to make and execute decisions in the workplace.
3. We don’t measure correctness. Instead, we measure the skill with which people go about making decisions in complex real-world situations.
4. All of our assessments, including the LDMA, are grounded in a robust learning model. They are all built to support optimal learning & development.
5. We can tell you what an individual is likely to benefit from learning next. A score on the LDMA is associated with a rich, evidence-based understanding of how the skills it targets develop over time, which makes it possible to recommend practices tailored to help people learn at their growth edge.
6. We continuously update and refine our assessments, using research methods and technologies that exist nowhere else on earth.
7. We are able to measure ability and role complexity on the same scale. This makes it possible to align people and roles with unrivaled precision.

There are other assessments offered by conventional assessment providers that may superficially seem similar to the LDMA, but these are actually very different. For example:

1. There are assessments out there that present complex problems, but none of these have any of the features listed above except #2.
2. There are assessments that claim to be developmental in the same sense that our assessments are developmental, but the research evidence does not support this claim. Even if it did, these assessments wouldn’t have any of the features listed above except #1.

We’ve done our homework — 25 years of research, development, and practice. We’re now equipped with the knowledge, methods, and technologies that will transform learning everywhere.

A few helpful resources:

• Lectica Inside page
• Lectica’s evidence-base, including numerous refereed articles published in well-respected academic journals.

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