I am occasionally called upon to train someone to do something somewhat above their skill level under…well, it might be tremendous pressure. It seems I have grown accustomed to a rather frenetic pace.

Today, I worked with someone who is new to the tasks at hand and was keenly aware of the pressure. She’s had some training, but this involved cross-functional thinking and strategic decision-making, rather than the check-off-able tasks she’s been working on. But that’s a big part of the job — if we could follow a checklist all the time, service robots would soon outrank us. Instead, the work is more akin to a Choose Your Own Adventure novel.

I’ve done a LOT of this training, and I enjoy it. It’s fun to teach someone to do something you enjoy…although this isn’t the same as teaching someone who requests knitting lessons. This is a “have to” that, depending on the person, might be a “want to.”

At the end, though, I got what may be the best compliment I’ve gotten from a student:

“Would you teach my daughter how to drive?”

That she thinks my coaching patience and calm continues behind the wheel indicates that I may have a few secrets from my colleagues after all…