Person wey dey two years behind you ask you how you take get good for di thing. You get twenty free minutes and two options: send link, wey be wetin most people dey do, or sidon and waka dem through di part wey take you one year to figure out.
Take di second one, and no be because na di kind thing to do. Take am because dose twenty minutes na di sharpest audit of your own skill wey you go get dis month. To explain something loud, for plain words, to person wey no fit quietly fill your gaps for you, dey find di places where you don dey fake am faster dan any amount of solo practice. Dem go waka comot with shortcut. You go waka comot with map of your own holes, wey be di thing wey you no fit buy and you no fit produce alone. Di two of dem na real, and di second one no dey cost you di first.
To teach another person dey really help you learn am?
Yes, and di effect dey start before you even open mouth. John Nestojko, Dung Bui, Nate Kornell and Elizabeth Bjork give people one passage to study, some dey expect test on top am and some dey expect say dem go teach am to another student, den dem test everybody. Di group wey dey expect to teach recall pass, organise wetin dem recall better, and hold di main points more securely, even though no teaching ever happen.
To read something like material wey you go hand over dey change how you dey process am while you still dey read. You go start dey look for di structure, di order wey things suppose come, and di objection wey somebody go raise, and none of dose ones dey worry you when na for yourself alone you dey read.
Den di actual explaining dey add di second half. Jeffrey Karpicke and Janell Blunt show for Science say to pull knowledge comot from memory dey produce learning wey dey last pass elaborate studying of di same material, and say di advantage still hold for di harder questions wey need make you go beyond wetin dem talk. Teaching na retrieval under pressure, for real time, with person dey watch. Na dat technique for him most demanding form, and e dey come dress like favour.
How I go teach beginner di skill wey I sabi well?
Twenty minutes, one problem wey dem really bring, and plain words. Ask wetin dey hold dem right now, work on dia own example instead of your favorite one, and ban every term wey you go need define.
Di plain words rule na where di value dey. Jargon na compression, and compression dey hide gaps beautifully. Di moment wey you must talk wetin di term mean to person wey never hear am before, you go find out whether you sabi di thing or na only di label you sabi. No prepare lesson. Lesson dey allow you route around your weak spots without you noticing; dia question no dey allow am.
Watch out for di stall. One sentence dey always where you go slow down, hedge, talk "e just kind of depend," den move on quick quick. Dat sentence na di hole. Write am down di moment dem comot and go study exactly dat one, because dem just hand you di most precisely targeted piece of practice wey dey available to you, and na person wey no even sabi say dem do am identify am.
Two other things worth doing. Show dem di version wey fail, no be only di version wey dey work, because na inside di failure di real knowledge dey. And answer di question wey dem ask, no be di more interesting question wey dey near am, wey be di most common way wey experienced people dey waste beginner twenty minutes.
Wetin be di difference between mentor and sponsor?
Mentor dey talk to you. Sponsor dey call your name inside room wey you no dey. Most people never get anybody wey explain di difference for dem, and na di difference between advice and result.
Herminia Ibarra, Nancy Carter and Christine Silva, wey write for Harvard Business Review, quote one woman wey don dey her company for twelve years with nothing happening, and wey talk say dem dey mentor her to death: years of coaching, career planning and development programs, and no advancement, because nobody wey get standing ever advocate for her where dem dey take di decisions. Mentoring dey generous, but no be di same instrument.
To sponsor person dey cost like three sentences and small piece of your credibility. Inside room where dem dey allocate job, project or opportunity, call di name, talk di specific evidence, and talk wetin you go trust dem with. "Put Marcus on am. E rebuild di reporting pipeline inside six weeks and e never break since. E don ready for something wey get customer attached." Na so e be. E specific enough make person fit check am, and na dat dey make am worth something.
Wetin dey come back no be vague thing. Spend your standing on people wey go den do well, and you go build track record as person wey him recommendation worth acting on, and na reputation wey you no fit build by talking about yourself. Na di same machinery wey Ibarra and her colleagues find dey move career, just pointed from di other end.
Wetin I go actually talk when I dey praise person for public?
Call di exact thing wey dem do, talk wetin e change, and talk am for front of di people wey dia opinion about dat person matter. "Great work" na noise and e dey evaporate immediately. "Na she catch di pricing error two days before e ship, and e for cost us di whole quarter" na event wey dem go still remember for five years.
Specificity na di whole technique, and public na di multiplier. Gallup research on recognition find out say na only about one out of three US workers strongly agree say dem receive recognition or praise for good work inside di past seven days, and say when people describe di recognition wey memorable pass for dem, money no be di top answer. Public acknowledgement of one specific thing wey person do well dey scarce, na am people dey talk say dem dey remember, and e dey cost you one sentence.
Two smaller moves belong beside am and each one dey take minutes. Make di introduction wey you for keep to yourself, because di connection wey you dey sidon on top worth far more when e dey circulate dan when e dey store. And champion person wey no ask you, inside room where dem go never find out say na you do am, wey be di version wey no get reciprocity attached and di one wey dey tell you most about di kind operator wey you dey become.
E too early for me to dey teach anybody?
Almost certainly no. To dey two years ahead na better teaching position dan to dey twenty years ahead, because you still fit remember wetin confuse you and you never forget which parts really hard.
Di expert own problem na say di thing don become obvious to dem, and obvious no useful to beginner. You still sabi where di cliff dey. You still remember di week wey you nearly quit and wetin carry you through am. Na dat exact material person wey dey one year behind you need, and nobody wey don far pass fit supply am well like you fit do am right now.
Dis one settle di timing question wey dey stop most people too. Teaching no be thing wey you go do after you don arrive. Na one of di ways wey you take reach der, and di people wey dey do am while dem still dey climb dey collect di audit effect for di point of di curve where e worth pass.
Di generous version and di selfish version na di same move
Kaʻohele Carlos, wey found KEEP CALM, describe dis one as one of di things wey him own career really run on. Across twenty years, e dey look for chances to coach, train, advise, lift up, commend and champion di people around am, and e talk say di energy and support wey come back na tenfold. Na him account of him own twenty years be dat, no be law of nature, and e worth wetin him twenty years worth to you.
Wetin you fit verify na di mechanism for your own side, and di mechanism no be sentiment. To explain out loud dey find your gaps. To prepare to explain dey make you learn better before you even start. To call good person name inside room dey build you reputation wey you no fit build by talking about yourself. To give precise note dey train your eye for your own work. Every single one of dose na practice technique wey just happen to leave another person better off, wey be di least complicated kind of good deal wey dey.
So take di twenty minutes. Sidon with di person wey ask, use dia example, ban di jargon, and notice di sentence where you dey stall. Den go study dat one. You go be better practitioner by Thursday, dem go save one year, and neither of una need wait until una don make am.
Sources
- Memory & Cognition, Expecting to teach enhances learning and organization of knowledge in free recall of text passages
- Science, Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping
- Harvard Business Review, Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women
- Gallup, The Importance of Employee Recognition: Low Cost, High Impact