ride-alongs are often underestimated

One of the wonderful practices that Doug Lemov and others have popularized in K-12 teaching over the last 15-20 years is regular observation of master teachers with eyes wide open for “moves” that newer teachers can steal. 

Teaching, like public speaking and a bunch of other practices, can look like the product of some innate genius. Bewildered first-year teachers may think of their more seasoned colleagues as “kid whisperers”. The same kid who cuts up in your class carries herself like a scholar in the classroom next door. What gives?

Lemov has put out playbooks (including lots of videos) of these pro moves and a generation of teachers has now been trained on them.

I find that managers often ignore this and find themselves at a loss when their feedback falls flat and their people don’t improve. These managers don’t observe their people in real time. Maybe more importantly, they don’t have their people observe them doing the thing they want with the right moves. 

In much knowledge economy and creative work, you can reasonably assume that someone can’t replicate what you do just by watching you. But this is often wrong! Even idiosyncratic stuff like writing emails in your voice or drafting legal documents can be done well, even beautifully, when someone has the chance to ride along and watch how you do it. 

Tools like Loom make these ride-alongs pretty easy to achieve asynchronously, too. If it seems like someone you manage has hit a plateau they can’t get beyond, let them ride along while you make the right moves.

-Eric