A good teacher explains the principle so the student can solve problems that were never demonstrated.
LEADERSHIP
WHAT THIS MEANS
Demonstrations only cover the cases you thought to show. Principles cover the ones nobody anticipated, which is where most real problems live. Teaching the underlying reason takes longer and feels less satisfying than showing the fix, and it is the difference between someone who can repeat you and someone who can go past you.
Next time you show someone how, add why. Then give them a slightly different problem you never demonstrated. Their handling of that is the real measure of the lesson.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Do you hand people steps or the reasoning behind them?
MORE IN LEADERSHIP & INFLUENCE
- Being the one who says “I think this plan has a problem” in a room of nodding heads is worth ten silent yeses.
- You have not fully passed down knowledge if the next person can only copy your exact moves.
- Be the one who invites. Most people are waiting to be asked and assuming nobody wants them there.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.