Teaching at every level

Knowledge is a rare product, which, once delivered, remains with the supplier.

Better still, it often returns bearing gifts. “Teaching” in many scenarios means conversation, whether asynchronous or in-person. Great conversations don’t just communicate ideas, they create them. That makes all of us potential teachers.

If you’re like me, you noticed Horowitz’s emphasized one word in particular: manager. While “training is the boss’s job,” the opportunity doesn’t end there.

Teaching occurs whenever information and feedback are used to positively influence future outcomes. There’s room for everyone to contribute.

Sure, makers have to make. The team depends on them. But where enthusiasm for learning and sharing goes, an environment conducive to great work follows.

I’m reminded of what our own Paul Jun wrote about his first few months at Help Scout. As a new marketer on our publishing team, he recounts the initial struggle to find his voice, until it was overcome with “teaching” from me.

I was genuinely surprised—I never considered our conversations to be anything but conversations, and, if anything, I felt like I was learning as much as I was sharing. But who else would have been suitable for these talks? Not only is “management” a lazy answer, it’s an incorrect one.

Management is no limiting factor. Sometimes the best way to learn is from a peer. Those above may have a vantage point on the situation, but the closest camaraderie is built down in the foxhole.

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