Monthly Archives: January 2013

January 15, 2013 · 9:48 am

Want To Learn Something? Teach It!

As we’ve discussed before here on the screed, I went to school way back in the last century to become a teacher.

English: A teacher and young pupils at The Bri...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To do so where I went to school you had to major in both your field of choice (English in my case) as well as in Education. You studied the information you were going to teach as well as the teaching process itself.

There was a flaw of sorts in that education. English majors do not spend a lot of time on grammar or spelling (even if we do get beaten up about it by our professors). We teachers-in-training had to take a course in philology which other English majors didn’t, but in general our subject matter learning wasn’t much different from our peers who weren’t getting teaching licenses. I hasten to add we DID have to take a lot of courses about how to teach but they were for anyone becoming a teacher no matter the subject area.  What I didn’t quite understand at the time was something that I’ve since learned:

If you want to learn something, teach it.

A fairly sizable part of what we do in business is teach. It may be that we need to develop staff or it may be that we’re trying to educate a potential customer about our product. Either way, we’re teaching. The funny thing is that you discover immediately that it’s impossible to educate someone about the subject if you don’t fully understand it yourself.  You find the holes in your knowledge base.  Many of us have had teachers who we thought were one chapter ahead of the class in terms of their knowledge.  It’s the same in business – I’m sure you’ve had the experience of a salesperson who knew less that you did about a product or who couldn’t answer a question without running for an information sheet.

So today’s business point is this:  if you want to understand a topic or a product fully, prepare a lesson plan about it as if you were going to teach a class on it.  You’ll learn a great deal about it as you flesh out the various outlines.  This works for almost anything – it’s almost impossible to explain something if you don’t understand it.  Then let me know what you think!

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January 14, 2013 · 11:02 am

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Over the holidays a survey was released about how we interact with our doctors.

English: A female doctor examines a child.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ll tell you what it said with a grain of salt since the folks underwriting the survey are from a medical information web service.  They’re a kind of online chat service except the person on the other end is a medical professional.  Why is something like that needed?  Well, according to the survey:

Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of respondents have avoided going to a doctor in favor of searching online for medical information on at least one occasion. Americans are bringing their medical questions online for a variety of reasons, with insurance-related concerns, embarrassment, and the fear of discovering a pre-existing condition high on the list.

Not surprisingly, many people don’t go because they lack health insurance or because even with insurance it’s an expensive visit. But a very large number don’t want to ask their questions of a medical professional because those questions are about uncomfortable topics – sex, drug use, etc.  They also admitted lying to the doctor about alcohol use, poor diet, or lack of exercise.  Obviously not asking about something or giving bad information because it makes you uncomfortable can have serious ramifications later on.  Which is exactly the business point.

How many managers ignore symptoms in their own organizations because what they see makes them uncomfortable?  How many of us feel that something is not quite right but don’t take the opportunity of a staff meeting to discuss the symptoms?  Some of the thinking is probably akin to that of people and their physicians:  we are afraid to find out the truth or the discussion itself just makes us uncomfortable.  Most of the time when we do summon the courage to ask the doc about what’s going on it’s nothing.  I suspect the same is true about business – we don’t have complete information about what we’re seeing and a bit more knowledge can ease our fears.  However, sometimes something really is wrong, and just as in a medical situation, catching it early is a lot better than waiting until it’s too late and not much can be done.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” isn’t a way to handle your health or your business.  An open, honest relationship with your doctor and your business team keeps everyone healthy.  You agree?

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January 11, 2013 · 9:48 am

Seeds

For our Foodie Friday Fun today, let’s spend a moment on seeds.

Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I realize that seeds probably aren’t the first thing on your radar screen when you’re contemplating snack foods.  Too bad.  Seeds are nutrient-dense and are filled with phytosterols, these things in plants that are as effective as many of the prescription drugs a lot of folks are taking to lower cholesterol.   I’m a fan – pumpkin seeds are the best thing in my book about carving those gourds around Halloween, and no baseball player has gone through their career without chomping in a bunch of sunflower seeds at some point.  I’m not sure many of them think about how they’re full of antioxidants to protect against UV damage from playing ball in the sun, however.  I also don’t think many of us consider hummus as ground sesame seeds (well, the tahini used to make hummus is exactly that) and we tend to throw seeds from fruits such as papaya away when in actuality they’re really good for us.

Here’s the thing about eating seeds – they can, in some cases, be a lot of work.  After all, pumpkin seeds (if you’re making them yourself) need to be extracted, cleaned off, roasted and seasoned.  Sunflower seeds have to be extracted from their hard, inedible shell.  Maybe that extra bit of business to get them ready is why I find them so satisfying to eat.

The business point is pretty straightforward.  As managers we tend to focus on the fully developed plants when in fact the seeds might be better for us.  I focus a lot on potential when I’m hiring or promoting, and that’s not just on junior people.  I’m looking to see if there’s a seed somewhere that might even be better than the plant I’m seeing.  It’s not jut solving the immediate need (hunger) but looking to the future as well (health).

What seeds are you eating?

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