Aha Moment Monday
How many times have you heard, “It’s faster for me to just do it myself.” ?
Training someone else to perform a function that you can do lightning-fast with your eyes closed – whether it’s your toddler to tie his shoes or your co-worker to run payroll –can be an experience.
As children, we learn mimetically. It’s instinctual.
As adults, we have structured our learning style to be more theoretical. We begin our learning process through absorbing facts and information.
This the case even in light of surveys indicating that “on-the-job training” is cited as the best learning tool.
Let’s ask ourselves, if we read all the books we could find on how to swim, could we be immediately proficient by reading alone?
Aha – “Practice trumps theory.” ~ Dr. Jussi Eerikainen, Mathematician, Cardiologist, Author
We learn by doing. That applies to graphic design, sewing, entrepreneurship, javelin throwing, meditation, dry-walling, marketing, gardening, writing and any other skill known to humankind.
While learning the theory is a baseline, it’s the practice that anchors the learning.
So when you perform the function for someone else, you may achieve your goal faster in the short term but in the long term, two things happen
- You limit your growth through collaboration in teaching someone else a new skill
- You rob an individual of the accomplishment of mastering that new skill and being a more productive contributor
Even if you perform shoe-tying in front of your toddler and show videos of how the process works, it’s still going to be him doing it himself – involving all his senses and emotions – that will make him more capable and confident.
Isn’t that what you want in the long-run for both your toddler and your team?
There are hidden riches in being both a student and a teacher.
“The greater the obstacle, the greater the glory in overcoming it.” ~ Moliere
Succeed deliberately!
Jae M. Rang, MAS
INSPIRING Results on PURPOSE®
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