When I’m enabling new hires, I like to start with first principles. The simplest possible way to explain who we are, how we make money, and the key outputs talent on the team needs to make. Example:
- Service providers want customers so that their businesses thrive.
- We help service providers get customers, thus helping their business thrive.
- Service providers pay us for leads that convert to customers.
Now, teach me back, in your own language, what we do. And, go a step further, generate 3 questions that might help you understand the business better.
I studied music education for a spell in college. I most remember my professor reminding us to “check for understanding”, and the best way to prove understanding is to repeat what you learned back in your own words. In order to do that, you need to know the concept well enough to simplify it and translate it to every day speech — that’s hard for technical work.
My job involves quite a bit of data. People on my team need to be skilled at quickly understanding data and using it to solve problems. Our data, probably similar to yours, isn’t all beautiful. I teach new hires how our data lays out using a similar format.
- Churn decisions are a function of time.
- People consider various factors when deciding to keep, grow, or cancel their subscription.
- The factors we know people consider are A, B, and C.
- Let’s start A. The question is: How do I discover all I can about Factor A and how it impacts an account?
I then explain how to learn about Factor A. I explain, using a visual, how Factor A relates to other factors. I then ask the person to teach me about Factor A in their own language. I ask them to teach how to find out more about Factor A and how it impacts a given account. I ask, at what point do you recommend we begin thinking about Factor A? How might we be more proactive?
At the end of these training sessions, the team member demonstrates knowledge in their own language, they can generate interesting and insightful questions, and they begin developing an idea of how to work.
Cost Benefit Analysis
The cost of this training? Time and patience. You will need time to create a curriculum that breaks your role or product into the simplest parts. Time will be required for you to figure out how to simplify your explanation so that a lay person can understand. You must resist the urge to give answers or cut off learning by giving hints — the learner’s struggle is important.
The payoff? You want your talent being more productive faster, right? Additionally, because the learning is largely self-directed, confidence develops faster. The real benefit: More confidently productive team members making outputs faster.
This Scales
You can easily record your talks and then host a one-to-many workshop. Before the workshop, ask people to watch your talk. Next, break people up into small groups and ask the new hires to teach their peers what they’ve learned. Allow time for feedback and then role reverse. I see this as productive time because it: increases confidence, teaches your existing team leadership/feedback skills, lets the new hires get feedback from people closest to the real world, and creates stronger trust bonds between teammates — these returns are significant and cannot be overlooked.
One Useful Action
Take one part of your job and break it into the simplest possible parts. Imagine you have to explain it to a kid. How would you explain it? Then, attempt to teach it to a kid or someone who doesn’t know what you do. Ask them to teach it back to you.
Inspired by every piano teacher I ever had, and this article from Open Culture on Richard Feynman.
Talent Revolution 