Earth-shattering project ideas. Resumes. Things in between.
You want to learn to teach? It might help you make progress with your gaggle of geese. I got the DOD to teach me how they do it, back in the day. I’ll share a few key points.
My top tips are Order and Motivation. Let’s begin:
The order of slides in a training deck is:
If you go out of order, people get lost and stop paying attention. So go in order and check at each step whether you’ve lost people. Adjust as necessary.
The hardest part is usually slide two. So let’s focus on that.
Read Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Fun book, right? Now read it again, but this time it’s a big allegory for Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs. You’re internally motivated because you find the subject fascinating, but Junior Birdman over there is getting paid a living wage (or several) in exchange for mediocre work. Where is the motivation to get better?
No two people have exactly the same drives and motivations. There are patterns. Once the basic needs are taken care of, belonging is next. You get more of what you celebrate. If the culture makes mediocrity acceptable, then it absolutely is. If the culture builds continuous improvement into the daily grind, then people improve continuously.
Once you reach a certain level, the group is no longer the primary motivating factor. You begin searching for self-actualization or transcendence. There’s a chasm, and you can cross it when you’re ready, but you can’t force anyone else across. All you can do is meet people where they are and try to control the motivations.
The checklist can help keep things on track. If you can manage people’s motivations, then they can learn anything. You cannot force-feed skills or knowledge.